IT workers unhappy; advised to consider self employment

Copyright December 2005 Tony Lawrence

An Information Week article paints IT employment as unsatisfying, with difficult bosses setting impossible goals, low morale, long hours, and not much to attract new people.

I particularly noticed this snippet:

 One of [Robert Rosen's]  suggestions is for people at or
 near retirement age to return to their companies--or
 go to others--as consultants. Often they can get
 involved in more interesting projects than the ones
 they left. Companies don't have to pay full benefits to
 'consultants,' so everyone wins.
 
 

I like the quotes around "consultants". Wink, wink: we can still abuse these people, but it costs us less. "Everyone wins" is corporation speak for "we still win, but here's how you can rationalize that you aren't as bad off as you really are".

The real problem isn't IT: it's corporate greed and disregard for humanity. Returning to an abusive company as a "consultant" doesn't really change that. Unless they really need your expertise and can't find it in-house, this sort of fake arrangement is still going to be detrimental to your well-being. You aren't really self employed; the company is just pretending that you are for their benefit. You become even more disposable than you were previously.

Of course there are real opportunities in IT consulting. This sort of rearrangement just isn't one of them.

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