[dorfsmay]

> I've seen plenty of software engineers with guaranteed incomes settle into their jobs and slack off

Make everybody a contractor! Let employers vote with their wallet. You slack off, you don't get renewed. I've been a contractor for more than 25 years, plenty of happy customers, plenty of renewals. Legally, my customers don't need to pay me if they can argue I did not deliver what was asked.

But, we negotiate and agree, beforehand, what the work and what the compensation is. I would never work without knowing what the compensation is ahead of time. WOULD YOU?