[hullsean]

capitalism is a rough game. sometimes people fight dirty.

the caution i would add is, you could try to play nice & the employer gets pissed anyway and say “you know what, you can leave today!”. one must prepare contingency plans on both sides.

if you want someone who will never quit, hire an independent consultant.

[greenyoda]

> if you want someone who will never quit, hire an independent consultant.

I can think of many reasons why an independent consultant would quit: abusive or annoying relationship with customer (e.g., customer wants lots of free revisions), bills don't get paid promptly, can negotiate a better rate elsewhere, bored with the current gig, etc.

[mancerayder]

I don't know about the last sentence. As an independent consultant I've been in places for years, but that's because the place was relatively transparent with me and so I chose to be transparent with them.

You should go honest and transparent first, but if people play games then you have to protect yourself. However, my theory is that consultants are less prone to the crazy political storms that engulf full-time employees and give them insomnia.

[gumby]

What? A consultant is more likely to bail on a moment’s notice if a better deal comes along. One reason for hiring an FTE is the inherent hysteresis.

Of course it’s bad for a consultant to get the reputation of being unreliable so there’s some moderation on the practice.

[devdad]

A decent consultant would never leave from one day to the other. If the employer/customer is doing their part, a consultant is reliable. The money's better, the reputation is what earns them more gigs. Also, there's not anything inherently bad with letting them go with zero notice, since that's what you pay for.