Google reportedly has more contract workers than full-time employees

[Polycount]

As the "gig economy" continues to grow, contract-based work has become more popular than ever. Companies like Uber, Lyft, and even Amazon now rely much more heavily on freelancers than they ever have before -- and it isn't hard to see why.

Typically, when it comes to freelancers, a company need not shell out money for health insurance, vacation time, or other benefits that full-time employees usually have; even if said contract workers are technically working full-time hours. This makes them a relatively cheap, disposable, and always-available workforce (many full-time workers perform freelance jobs on the side).

"...the search giant employed 121,000 temporary or contract-based workers throughout its global operations as of March 2019."

Interestingly, it isn't just the companies listed above that are growing their freelance worker numbers substantially -- other tech companies, Google in particular, are following suit. Indeed, according to a report from the New York Times, the search giant employed 121,000 temporary or contract-based workers throughout its global operations as of March 2019. By contrast, their fully-vested employee numbers sat at 102,000.

As stated before, the reasons for this disparity are many and compelling. Cutting costs wherever possible seems to be the norm for most big corporations these days, and freelance work is just one of the many ways a tech giant like Google can accomplish that.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/80265-google-reportedly-has-more-contract-workers-than-full.html

 

[p51d007]

DUH...avoid all of those messy "benefits", labor laws, 40 hour week and such

 

[QuantumPhysics]

DUH...avoid all of those messy "benefits", labor laws, 40 hour week and such

You beat me to it.

 

[RedGuard]

Well, I work as a freelancer (not for Google, of course) and I work 30 hours a week and in my country I'm in TOP 1% regarding income in the IT field (and again, out of the total population, only about 1% works in this domain).

I don't have to drive to work and waste 2 hours per day just to get to the office, I can choose my PC components and my desk, when I have to travel to the office the flights and accommodation is paid by the company. And so on.

The only downside is that I'm not paid as a freelance westerner (8,000 or more euros per month), but then again I don't have to pay 30%-60% in taxes as it happens in Western Europe. And that I have to work with other freelancers that are paid similar to me but only do 10-20% of the work I do. Oh, and that I have to work with European software which is pretty ~craep~ but that's something I cannot escape from no matter the form of work I choose.

 

[captaincranky]

Well, I work as a freelancer (not for Google, of course) and I work 30 hours a week and in my country I'm in TOP 1% regarding income in the IT field (and again, out of the total population, only about 1% works in this domain)....[ ]...

You certainly can't compare your situation with someone like a driver for Uber in New York City.

Uber has been forcing those individuals who wish to drive full time, to buy or lease Lincoln Town Cars at horrific interest rates, (to those with poor credit ratings), because, "A Lincoln is what the customer is expecting when hailing a ride in New York.

I agree that in certain fields and situations contract work could be lucrative, but that is not often the case.

This nonsense was started log ago by chains like our Walmart, who keep most of their employees as "part timers", to avoid the costs associated with a full time employee's benefit package.

"Contract workers", distance an employer's responsibility from benefits to an even greater degree.

They could even ostensibly get rid of some of their accounting staff, as the burden of calculating and paying taxes now falls directly on the shoulders of the contracted worker.

 

[Capaill]

This nonsense was started log ago by chains like our Walmart, who keep most of their employees as "part timers", to avoid the costs associated with a full time employee's benefit package.

Agreed. There may be benefits to some people to be contractors but for the most part, the big winner is the company. As well as not having to pay for healthcare, pensions, sick leave, holidays, etc, in many cases the contractors are not even on the company's books so the company can appear to be making much bigger profits.