Re: Contracting

[Elna Tymes <etymes -at- LTS -dot- COM>]

Chuck -

> In my case, I sacrifices a couple of dollars an hour to take thisoption,
[of working through an agency]
> which I thought was well worth avoiding the time and cost needed to manage
> all the peperwork of "my own business."

Would that the agencies around here take 'just a few dollars' as their
markup.  Most of the agencies around here take a 35-50% markup over what
the contractor gets; if you're netting about $50/hour before taxes, you
can imagine what the agency is charging for you.  Further, realize that
the companies are willing to pay that $65-100/hour for the services of a
decent technical writer -- which means that on your own, if you're good,
you should be able to get that too.

And there's the rub.  Most of the agencies around Silicon Valley have
convinced the HR departments of most companies around here that the IRS
is gonna pounce on 'em if they don't have W2 employees, so without
thinking things through, the companies blindly insist on W2 employees,
which the agencies can provide.  Which penalizes a lot of otherwise very
talented and willing people who simply don't want to do W2 work for an
agency.  We run into that situation all the time - and while we bid on a
project basis rather than an individual person basis, we still get
treated to the same ol' W2 logic.  I have *very* little respect for most
of the agencies in Silicon Valley precisely because of this.

Elna Tymes
Los Trancos Systems

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