[Gieskanne]

If i pay an external $1000 per day and that price doesn't change when they are in my office or at home, i would put them in my office for obvious security risks.

If corona means i can't get my work done, i have a new risk.

Security risk for external consultants having full access at their home vs. no one can work -> i might choose the externals giving access.

Its not imaginary.

[wackro]

In my experience (I am a contractor) the real reason is control. Companies want to ensure you (who are a separate legal entity and therefore have certain freedoms) have your nose to the grindstone. It's understandable, but paranoid.

[bartvk]

But shouldn't you have to weigh this against the fact that a bit more freedom makes people happy?

[corty]

No, because keeping external consultants happy is not the job of the company. They only have to keep their own employees happy, external consultants are seen as temporary, cheap, illoyal and taking away normal employees' jobs. Most parts of the hierarchy (except the very top) will try to inconvenience them if possible.

[Joeri]

That doesn’t seem very rational. The goal of all managers should be to maximize productivity per dollar spent. Motivated contractors who are well integrated in teams, don’t need to be replaced often, and generally kept happy are far more productive, hence the bottom line of the company benefits by it.

[corty]

It isn't "big picture" rational, but it is rational in a myopic way. Most managers in a company are only responsible for their own little kingdom and will care little about the rest or any overall whole-company picture. Only the highest-ups are responsible, accountable and incentivized to care about the whole.

[crispyporkbites]

Pretty sure my home is more secure than your office. Literally no one wanders in here and tries to steal corporate secrets / install malware. It happens all the time in actual offices, and it's surprisingly easy to gain access to the most "secure" offices.

[Gieskanne]

Company has their office under control but not yours. Doesn't matter if you think your office is more secure. Mine has access control.

Also we are not talking about the person who is really smart about it we talk about the avg person. There are plenty of stories of laptops being stolen in coffee shops or from a train.

And its also a Network thing. Do i want you to be able to pull/push something into my corp network fromyour home network?