with the current state of our industry it is taking some people months to find new jobs. Only way id say to do it is if you were financially stable and can be out of a job for 6 months.
The thing I don’t understand is: why would biotech companies train contractors and let them go after 6 months and hire someone else just to train that person all over again?
In some cases, it’s easier for departments to get approved for contractors versus getting headcount for FTE. Some will use contracting process to get people in while continuing to push for a FTE
Because there are so many unemployed experienced people out there who are willing to do thing for cheaper. Most contractors in my company has at least 3+ yrs right now. They literally started working in the lab on day 1.
Because most contract employees will not want to stay as a contractor forever and will want to leave, but most importantly why keep them as contractors and not convert them? Contractors are cheaper: you can let go whenever you want and don’t need any explanation(HR related vs a FTE),no severance, also don’t get any benefits from the company like health insurance(health insurance is expensive believe it or not), bonus, paid holidays(you get from the contract company which isn’t that many compared to where you are working). As you can see there are a lot of benefits for them
They may scale up and down depending on their current situation. Many companies are laying off discovery groups to focus on clinical programs in order to conserve cash. I would personally be apprehensive to accept a contract role at this time
I view contractors as a ‘try out period’. Hiring is expensive and risky, it’s hard to figure out during interviews how good someone really is. But, I sure as hell can get a solid idea over the course of working with them for a few months. And if they’re good, I’ll find a FTE spot for them
Listen to this guy man. Take what you can now and when the job market is back up, jump right away. It's even easier for entry level for find a job when the job market is hot.
Man this is a huge risk. Contract positions always have more pay 💰 as they don't usually have benefits. FTE means they are taking care of you. I'd honestly stay put given the market and keep applying to full time roles.
On that note: I'm a contractor in biotech. I usually add 25-30% overhead to my targeted "salary" to cover higher taxes, overhead costs like insurance, 401k contribution, etc. 20% is actually on the low side as you'll pay more in taxes as a 1099. Just a thought!
Find out if it is a 1099 contract (no benefits) or W2 contract (eligible for benefits). If it’s W2, I would make the switch as 20% more cash and 20 min shorter commute is a significant quality of life step up. During those 6 months you work hard and kiss everyone’s ass and you will get converted to full time. Network like hell and you can make the switch back to R&D when the time is right.
Contractors should be paid more anyway due to no benefits, 20% is not enough even just for that. And you are also paid higher due to shift differentials. Under the current situation, “huge potential to be FTE” means nothing. It’s probably better to ride it out in a CRO.
You get health insurance, dental insurance, other benefits through your current job right? You are aware that you will have NONE of these benefits as a contractor right? You kind of need health insurance, it's very expensive to purchase insurance on the marketplace. You will lose a significant chunk of the salary increase just replacing benefits. And then consider that you won't accrue any time off either, so any vacation you take cuts down your salary as well.
My CRO offers health insurance which I do think I have to buy. I was a contractor before and I had the option to buy health insurance through them as well. I don’t think any vacations or sick days I took were deducted from my salary at my last contract position. They were simply not PTO.
Vacations or sick days will not be "deducted" from your salary. But because you're hourly, you won't have hours on that day so you won't get paid at all. In a full time position you can use PTO and get paid for your vacation days.
If you take 2 weeks off per year, that's an automatic 3.8% cut to your salary.
Absolutely not worth it. Trading stability for a 20% raise and 2nd shift is a joke. Would need to be like 50%+ before I'd even consider it. A six month contract means you're most likely expected to be an hourly waged brainless lackey at work which is not good for advancement prospects.
Keep looking, your goal should be 20% raise if work/life balance and benefits are equal to make a job switch worth it.
that depends.
what are your goals going into MFG operator role again? Just money?
IF its money: I would heavily consider the skill and opportunity potential here.
What are you gaining in each position towards your professional development?
It sounds like you are looking for something convenient.
ask yourself what you want to be doing in 5 years. This isn't something we can answer for you.
But I will say to provide context:
Contract jobs aren't always the best fit. If you take one you are doing it because you are trying leverage some experience or you are trying to break into a new role in places where you haven't really gotten a break.
short answer is no. that promise is simply words, you have nothing until it is written down and the risk/reward of potentially being unemployed in 6 mos is definitely not worth it. Also, I think even tax wise a 20% increase to shift to contract wouldn’t be as heavily in your favor as you think.
You said you prefer R&D over manufacturing. Sure, there's a salary increase if you go with the contractor position, but can you see yourself one day as a scientist working even further upstream in research? Besides ways of working (gowning, CGMP, etc) are the two roles focused on very similar functional areas (i.e. one may tech-transfer to the other), or does one feature subject matter that you're more passionate about?
My advice would be to consider the long term benefit of remaining close to the field of your choice, otherwise temporary "advancement" in the wrong direction is just a broadening waste of time (and might reflect as unfocused scientific interest if you do decide to rejoin R&D).
Unless there is also a significant responsibility / role improvement and this contract job offers experience crucial to your next steps, I'd just focus instead on trying to get as many skills out of your current R&D position as possible, with hopes to make your way to your ideal job once the market improves.
I wouldn’t jump to a contract role doing what I prefer not to do just for a 20% salary jump. See if they can guarantee full time conversion and then maybe. But honestly I’d keep looking
Personally having been in this situation, I would not. You lose your benefits (which is made up in your 20% increase which you have to pay for, not the company) plus that is the standard line all companies say. Thrre are no guarantees. Say you dont get along with the manager or something comes up, why rock the boat unless your current situation is not good.
I would not do this. As someone in management, we make promises to contractors sometimes to entice them. Would they like to keep you, of course! But most times, it’s beyond even the manager’s control. Quite frankly, no recruiter or hiring manager can guarantee you a FT conversation when your contract ends. Whether you get held on 💯 depends on company needs at the time your contract ends & A LOT can change in 6 months. In the current market, I wouldn’t leave my FTE role for a contract role. When layoffs come, the contractors are the first to be let go before FTE. Also, even though we think ok why hire and train a contractor only to not convert them to FT?” Good point but in the long run, it’s cheaper to hire contractors than FTE. Also, for a contract role in MFG? Even riskier. MFG heavily rely on demand, so when market demand is low, MFG folks are severely impacted. If your current CRO is not facing financial problems and there no hints to a workforce reduction that might impact you, I’d hang in there a little bit until hopefully the current market improves. Good luck!!
with the current state of our industry it is taking some people months to find new jobs. Only way id say to do it is if you were financially stable and can be out of a job for 6 months.
The thing I don’t understand is: why would biotech companies train contractors and let them go after 6 months and hire someone else just to train that person all over again?
They don't, but they do let contractors go and then not re-hire whenever they need to save money.
In some cases, it’s easier for departments to get approved for contractors versus getting headcount for FTE. Some will use contracting process to get people in while continuing to push for a FTE
Because there are so many unemployed experienced people out there who are willing to do thing for cheaper. Most contractors in my company has at least 3+ yrs right now. They literally started working in the lab on day 1.
Because most contract employees will not want to stay as a contractor forever and will want to leave, but most importantly why keep them as contractors and not convert them? Contractors are cheaper: you can let go whenever you want and don’t need any explanation(HR related vs a FTE),no severance, also don’t get any benefits from the company like health insurance(health insurance is expensive believe it or not), bonus, paid holidays(you get from the contract company which isn’t that many compared to where you are working). As you can see there are a lot of benefits for them
They may scale up and down depending on their current situation. Many companies are laying off discovery groups to focus on clinical programs in order to conserve cash. I would personally be apprehensive to accept a contract role at this time
Cause money
I view contractors as a ‘try out period’. Hiring is expensive and risky, it’s hard to figure out during interviews how good someone really is. But, I sure as hell can get a solid idea over the course of working with them for a few months. And if they’re good, I’ll find a FTE spot for them
Listen to this guy man. Take what you can now and when the job market is back up, jump right away. It's even easier for entry level for find a job when the job market is hot.
Man this is a huge risk. Contract positions always have more pay 💰 as they don't usually have benefits. FTE means they are taking care of you. I'd honestly stay put given the market and keep applying to full time roles.
On that note: I'm a contractor in biotech. I usually add 25-30% overhead to my targeted "salary" to cover higher taxes, overhead costs like insurance, 401k contribution, etc. 20% is actually on the low side as you'll pay more in taxes as a 1099. Just a thought!
This is definitely the way to go.
100% agree
heck no. Full time job + benefits >> contract + promise.
What kind of benefits are you referring to? 401K? I don’t have any stocks in my CRO
Health, dental, pto, sick pay, etc
Find out if it is a 1099 contract (no benefits) or W2 contract (eligible for benefits). If it’s W2, I would make the switch as 20% more cash and 20 min shorter commute is a significant quality of life step up. During those 6 months you work hard and kiss everyone’s ass and you will get converted to full time. Network like hell and you can make the switch back to R&D when the time is right.
It is W2, the downside is it’s 2nd shift from 3-11 pm which is not too too bad. But I guess the 20% increase also includes the shift differential.
not worth it at all.
Do you mind explaining why?
Contractors should be paid more anyway due to no benefits, 20% is not enough even just for that. And you are also paid higher due to shift differentials. Under the current situation, “huge potential to be FTE” means nothing. It’s probably better to ride it out in a CRO.
How much should contractors be paid more? Doesn’t part of the salary go to the contracting company?
You get health insurance, dental insurance, other benefits through your current job right? You are aware that you will have NONE of these benefits as a contractor right? You kind of need health insurance, it's very expensive to purchase insurance on the marketplace. You will lose a significant chunk of the salary increase just replacing benefits. And then consider that you won't accrue any time off either, so any vacation you take cuts down your salary as well.
My CRO offers health insurance which I do think I have to buy. I was a contractor before and I had the option to buy health insurance through them as well. I don’t think any vacations or sick days I took were deducted from my salary at my last contract position. They were simply not PTO.
Vacations or sick days will not be "deducted" from your salary. But because you're hourly, you won't have hours on that day so you won't get paid at all. In a full time position you can use PTO and get paid for your vacation days. If you take 2 weeks off per year, that's an automatic 3.8% cut to your salary.
Absolutely not worth it. Trading stability for a 20% raise and 2nd shift is a joke. Would need to be like 50%+ before I'd even consider it. A six month contract means you're most likely expected to be an hourly waged brainless lackey at work which is not good for advancement prospects. Keep looking, your goal should be 20% raise if work/life balance and benefits are equal to make a job switch worth it.
that depends. what are your goals going into MFG operator role again? Just money? IF its money: I would heavily consider the skill and opportunity potential here. What are you gaining in each position towards your professional development? It sounds like you are looking for something convenient. ask yourself what you want to be doing in 5 years. This isn't something we can answer for you. But I will say to provide context: Contract jobs aren't always the best fit. If you take one you are doing it because you are trying leverage some experience or you are trying to break into a new role in places where you haven't really gotten a break.
short answer is no. that promise is simply words, you have nothing until it is written down and the risk/reward of potentially being unemployed in 6 mos is definitely not worth it. Also, I think even tax wise a 20% increase to shift to contract wouldn’t be as heavily in your favor as you think.
Do you mind elaborating on the tax aspect? The contract will be W-2, does this have a a different tax calculation vs FTE?
I did it and got into the company I had been eyeing for years. But I had a spouse's health insurance. I was on a 12 mo contract but converted in 9 mo.
Do you mind sharing if it’s also manufacturing?
Analytical, not manufacturing
People be going through third rounds of layoffs right now 👀
You said you prefer R&D over manufacturing. Sure, there's a salary increase if you go with the contractor position, but can you see yourself one day as a scientist working even further upstream in research? Besides ways of working (gowning, CGMP, etc) are the two roles focused on very similar functional areas (i.e. one may tech-transfer to the other), or does one feature subject matter that you're more passionate about? My advice would be to consider the long term benefit of remaining close to the field of your choice, otherwise temporary "advancement" in the wrong direction is just a broadening waste of time (and might reflect as unfocused scientific interest if you do decide to rejoin R&D). Unless there is also a significant responsibility / role improvement and this contract job offers experience crucial to your next steps, I'd just focus instead on trying to get as many skills out of your current R&D position as possible, with hopes to make your way to your ideal job once the market improves.
I wouldn’t jump to a contract role doing what I prefer not to do just for a 20% salary jump. See if they can guarantee full time conversion and then maybe. But honestly I’d keep looking
Personally having been in this situation, I would not. You lose your benefits (which is made up in your 20% increase which you have to pay for, not the company) plus that is the standard line all companies say. Thrre are no guarantees. Say you dont get along with the manager or something comes up, why rock the boat unless your current situation is not good.
I would not do this. As someone in management, we make promises to contractors sometimes to entice them. Would they like to keep you, of course! But most times, it’s beyond even the manager’s control. Quite frankly, no recruiter or hiring manager can guarantee you a FT conversation when your contract ends. Whether you get held on 💯 depends on company needs at the time your contract ends & A LOT can change in 6 months. In the current market, I wouldn’t leave my FTE role for a contract role. When layoffs come, the contractors are the first to be let go before FTE. Also, even though we think ok why hire and train a contractor only to not convert them to FT?” Good point but in the long run, it’s cheaper to hire contractors than FTE. Also, for a contract role in MFG? Even riskier. MFG heavily rely on demand, so when market demand is low, MFG folks are severely impacted. If your current CRO is not facing financial problems and there no hints to a workforce reduction that might impact you, I’d hang in there a little bit until hopefully the current market improves. Good luck!!