Some thoughts... part 1
There are several points that the accountants do not take into consideration, which has always bothered me.
First, they mention the cost of benefits overhead which is valid. Most places I have seen that has been between 25-30% of one's base salary.What it fails to take into account is the feature of overtime. Most IT positions I have worked have been salaried positions, and as such, exempt from OT. Has that stopped many of us from putting in more than the basic 40 hours per week? No. How manyof us have had a server crash and spent 20+ hours trying to get the situation resolved? How many have given up time on their weekends or evenings because you have been paged to handle some 'emergency' either real or imagined? Most salaried IT peopleI know seldom put in a 40 hour week, and do so based on a 40 hour salary. If the bean counters take this into account, the cost of the permanent employee actually goes down with the more hours worked.
Secondly, In most cases I have seen, contractors are brought in as players in the new projects. This puts your permanent employees in the mode of maintenance, mundane work that is usually well documented and can be farmed out. The opportunities for work that requires creative talents and innovation are limited in that position. This same employee looks and sees someone making a wage appreciably more that he/she, getting to do the new, creative work, often learning or increasing their skill set. Not a real moral booster. When the job is over the knowledge goes out the door. True, you may have documentation, but it is rarely as good as having someone on your staff that is fluent in what it took to get the task done.
