A lot of contractors (good ones) know how to play the game. You can get away with a lot when the companies vertically integrated sales app that only they can fix goes belly up. Saw this before where an easily replaceable manager goes up against a long time contractor (ya know, with a contract) and leadership gets to decide how to resolve the situation…
I’ve been in similar situations. It boils down to “You hired contractors to do this work because you don’t have the skills internally.” I cancelled a customer’s quarterly release because they didn’t hand over their requirements doc by the due date (after 2 months of prodding). The customer got really nasty with me. Got a call from my own VP after a few hours. He started to chew me out for not “working with them”. I showed him the dozens of emails and several meetings I had with them being clear about their responsibilities and timelines. He just said “Oh… I’ll talk to them.” The call with the customer’s PM the next day was hilarious. After he had chewed me out in front of 100+ of his people, he had to fall on his sword and take responsibility for messing up their release since it was his responsibility to manage their requirements and get them to me.
I know nobody cares, but it feels good to get that story out!
Oh, that doesn’t matter. This screenshot of a chat posted to a social media platform is probably fake as well. It’s still fun to read and talk about it.
Yea this is just silly and shortsighted. Reputation is everything, and once word gets around that you’re a pretentious dick who doesn’t need to attend meetings because you can’t get out of bed, you’ll be hard-pressed to find the next contract.
If I work contract the meetings need to be in the contract. No way Im driving to location for a half hour meeting and then driving home.Either put it in contract or reimburse time, gas and wear otherwise I’m not attending
Depends. I do contract work, and I’m replaceable. I’m nice anyways, but I’m even nicer given my status. However, there are some people that are essentially irreplaceable, and they make more in a week than I make in a month. They’re all assholes, but the powers that be capitulate to their every whim. I’d love to get qualified for what they do and replace them, regardless of the pay benefits. How can you make over a hundred an hour and be such a petulant, whiney baby? If I was making that money, man, I’d be literally the nicest person. Like, who gives a shit? You make wheelbarrows full of cash, so… who cares about minor inconveniences? And I’m not talking about work issues, I mean they whine about the same damn contract paperwork everyone has to fill out. It takes 10 minutes. I’m not doing it for you, no one will, so just… do it? Baffling.
People get paid lots of money because they get results that generate even more money. Those people are given that money based on a track record of success. That success comes from making demands, and being cut throat. There is a very slim chance you can be nice and successful. It sucks, but that’s why they are assholes, because that’s who survives in those environments. Look at c level execs or really driven managers and it’s all the same “success at any cost” mantra. Also 10 minutes of paperwork at $14 an hour is $2.50 to the company while that same 10 minutes to this “top earners” is $20, or over an hour of a minimum wagers time. That’s why I am against huddles in the first place, they are money pits.
Ha ha ha ha.
However, I guess in that position I would still be more cautious with wording. No need to burn bridges to make a point.
Depending on the work and the contract, it may be the company burning a bridge. Specialized labour can be both difficult and expensive to find.
A lot of contractors (good ones) know how to play the game. You can get away with a lot when the companies vertically integrated sales app that only they can fix goes belly up. Saw this before where an easily replaceable manager goes up against a long time contractor (ya know, with a contract) and leadership gets to decide how to resolve the situation…
I’ve been in similar situations. It boils down to “You hired contractors to do this work because you don’t have the skills internally.” I cancelled a customer’s quarterly release because they didn’t hand over their requirements doc by the due date (after 2 months of prodding). The customer got really nasty with me. Got a call from my own VP after a few hours. He started to chew me out for not “working with them”. I showed him the dozens of emails and several meetings I had with them being clear about their responsibilities and timelines. He just said “Oh… I’ll talk to them.” The call with the customer’s PM the next day was hilarious. After he had chewed me out in front of 100+ of his people, he had to fall on his sword and take responsibility for messing up their release since it was his responsibility to manage their requirements and get them to me.
I know nobody cares, but it feels good to get that story out!
Good reminder to CYA.
Good read, I care
I care. I like it. 😁
Where’s the Lemmy tech nightmare stories community when it’s needed.
Nah, everyone here says experiences like yours are “fake”. The good ol’ Reddit cynicism.
Heh, people seem nice here, but I still have that PTSD from interacting on Reddit.
There was a story posted on Reddit about 2 years ago, long as fuck but worth the read, about why you don’t piss off specialized contractors.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/nrnf5j/part_1_of_2_an_absolute_epic_entitled_ahole_gets/
It doesn’t have a happy ending, but not for reasons you’d think.
I remember that one. It was a fantastic read…but IIRC it turned out to be fake.
Oh, that doesn’t matter. This screenshot of a chat posted to a social media platform is probably fake as well. It’s still fun to read and talk about it.
For sure.
Yea this is just silly and shortsighted. Reputation is everything, and once word gets around that you’re a pretentious dick who doesn’t need to attend meetings because you can’t get out of bed, you’ll be hard-pressed to find the next contract.
If I work contract the meetings need to be in the contract. No way Im driving to location for a half hour meeting and then driving home.Either put it in contract or reimburse time, gas and wear otherwise I’m not attending
Depends. I do contract work, and I’m replaceable. I’m nice anyways, but I’m even nicer given my status. However, there are some people that are essentially irreplaceable, and they make more in a week than I make in a month. They’re all assholes, but the powers that be capitulate to their every whim. I’d love to get qualified for what they do and replace them, regardless of the pay benefits. How can you make over a hundred an hour and be such a petulant, whiney baby? If I was making that money, man, I’d be literally the nicest person. Like, who gives a shit? You make wheelbarrows full of cash, so… who cares about minor inconveniences? And I’m not talking about work issues, I mean they whine about the same damn contract paperwork everyone has to fill out. It takes 10 minutes. I’m not doing it for you, no one will, so just… do it? Baffling.
People get paid lots of money because they get results that generate even more money. Those people are given that money based on a track record of success. That success comes from making demands, and being cut throat. There is a very slim chance you can be nice and successful. It sucks, but that’s why they are assholes, because that’s who survives in those environments. Look at c level execs or really driven managers and it’s all the same “success at any cost” mantra. Also 10 minutes of paperwork at $14 an hour is $2.50 to the company while that same 10 minutes to this “top earners” is $20, or over an hour of a minimum wagers time. That’s why I am against huddles in the first place, they are money pits.
More money === bigger asshole
Very few exceptions to that rule.
What kind of job are we talking about here that makes these so called “wheelbarrows of cash”?
Nuclear power.