Hey everybody..

I received this email little while ago, as you can read this says my last working date 6th of November, and I was offered this job last year 5th of July with a 6 months contract. No renewal was signed and I was just working as usual without an actual contract and today I just received this.

Is this a layoff letter or what? If yes, is 6 November the last date of notice period and am I going to get paid during this time??

P.s. there's a shortage of work in my team and we barely worked last month, but we always get paid in full. So I hope they will credit my last month salary as well.

So I'm going through a contracting agency to start a job here in the near future but here's the deal. I got this position A GOD DAMN MONTH AGO.

well my start date rolls around and I now realize I haven't gotten more than a place to be and a date. I show up at the place (a headquarters for a hospital network) and no one knows what's going on. I wait for 2 fucking hours in the parking lot trying to get someone on the line to tell me where I'm supposed to be cause this isn't the right place.

Come to find out the HR department for the place I've been hired at (not the staffing firm) hadn't even signed off on my co tract yet and they still need me to take a drug test (which isn't a worry but it also wasn't mentioned to me)

I'm sorry but you've had a month. What do HR departments even do with the 8 to 9 hours in a day? No please scream more about how no one wants to work and then waste my time when I'm literally begging to start this job that apperently you don't need filled that urgently.

Okay I'm done now.

Edit: I'm still taking the job bit it'll be another few days til they're ready. Because fuck looking for jobs again. This ones wfh and I'm not breaking my back in some God forsaken warehouse.

Also I worked as an HR assistant for a huge library network for a month so I already know they don't do jack shit. I just didn't realize they suck this hard

Last week I got laid off by a tech company as part of a mass RIF. The day after, my direct supervisor called me saying that she thinks it was a mistake to let me go and that she'll speak with senior management to try to bring me back. Just a few hours ago, she informed me that the company is willing to bring me back, but as a contractor instead of a full-time employee. I'll be getting further details tomorrow.

My head's spinning because I'm not sure what to do. It seems like I have two options:

Option 1: Accept the offer and return to a company that just showed me the door. Will likely be awkward, and I won't receive any benefits due to being a contractor. Also, the environment was kind of toxic. However, I'll still have a somewhat steady stream of income.
Option 2: Reject the offer, take the 6 weeks of severance, and go all out in finding a full-time opportunity. I also have a side hustle that's providing me with a fairly small stipend. The obvious downside is that I won't have a steady stream of income, but it's not like being a contractor brings job security. I can easily get let go again in a couple of months. This time with no severance

Would appreciate any detailed insights on what I should do or how I should make this decision.

I’ve noticed a weird pattern lately. Every job interview, every career site, even random coworkers talk about “finding your passion” like it’s some kind of cheat code to surviving capitalism.

But honestly? I don’t want to love my job. I want to like it enough, do it well, and still have energy to enjoy my life after 5PM. Is that too much to ask?

Not everyone has a “calling.” Some of us are just trying to not drown in bills, keep some dignity, and find peace outside of a job title.

Curious—how many of you actually feel passionate about your work? Or are we just collectively pretending so we don’t sound “lazy”?

I found it on indeed saying it’ll pay $17 an hour. Sent in a voice recording for the interview and got the message today that I’m hired. I can’t find anything on Google about it so I’m wondering if it’s just another scam?

I guess it’s supposed to be people using the mic on their phone to train AI?

It's been an insanely difficult but I finally landed a contract position in financial crimes at a major consulting company! Thanks to everyone who gave me support or advice throughout the process.

To everyone still looking, please keep going. I know how insanely tough it is. I know how patronizing and demeaning people can be in response to your struggle. I know how the days start to blend together in a miserable, endless cycle. Take care of yourself and keep going. It is not you, it is the job market.

I'm so grateful for this opportunity. I'll never forget how I struggled and I'll help others in any capacity I can.

It isn’t much, and it’s a temporary position that will run until November, but the pay is three times as good as what I’m making now and the job will be a phenomenal addition to my resume.

I know it isn’t much, and it’ll probably get tedious after the first couple of weeks, but I am ecstatic. Especially with the job market being horrid right now, this will be a great opportunity to actually build an emergency fund (and maybe even lead to me being able to get my dream car)

So thank you for letting me share my little slice of happiness with you guys today. I hope everyone here is getting good news as well!

Edit: I had to run errands and came back to seeing this post blown up. Thank you all for the kind words, it’s made my good day even better!

Hello community, i got this dm on linkedin this morning but for me... it looks scammy. it is the forst time i receive smt like this on linkedin hahaha.

Met with a tech CEO (Male) of a 75-person SaaS yesterday for a marketing contracting gig.

Told me women don’t belong in tech.

Me: What do you mean?

CEO: Look through my employees. Only sellers I have are guys while the girls do the easy stuff. They can’t handle anything serious.

Me: I mean, there are some cool female founders. And they are crushing it.

CEO: Yeah maybe. You’ve got two kinds of women in tech:

- (A) The women who wont shut up about how they are “women in tech” and treat their gender like a disability.
- (B) The women who play like the men. I’ve only met a few.

I don’t think I agree with this.
However, if he’s saying it, then it’s safe to say other founders are too.

And this isn't the first time I've heard something like this...

Probably shouldn't take the gig even though it pays well.

Idk. Don't even know why I'm posting this here tbh but the whole story is insane. I just met him too... this was on our first call like 20 minutes in.

Hey all,

I work as a digital marketer for an e-commerce company, newly joined for about 1 month so far.

When I joined, i had one other colleague (who works the same role as me) as some sort of guide for me to onboard to the role and tasks, which worked well and dandy and all, I felt like it was pretty good work.

Then comes today, when I was informed that I was hired to be a replacement to my colleague and the company was trying to replace them since a few months back. The sudden layoff was pretty out of nowhere as I was not informed of this during the job interview, and my colleague sure as hell didn’t know they were being laid off till today.

And from the workload being split from the two of us, now I have to bear all of it on my own. This situation is also happening to another teammate of mine but different department.

2 new hires, and within a month, they drop 2 employees, with barely any warning.

What am i to do here?

HI ya'll, recently I had interview with KFC and they said they would only recruit me if I work atleast 6 months. Although I only have 2 months of free time, I accepted. Should I be worried about it? Will that have some kind of consequences or they just trying to "scare" me.

Edit: Thanks yall for response, i was just inexperienced and it helped a lot.

I'm on the job searching and have been exclusively applying to full time, W2, "permanent" roles with benefits. No luck so far, although it's only been about 6 weeks. I'm considering expanding my criteria already, because it would be nice to just get back into something.

I haven't considered contract roles yet, as I assumed it would be like being on a permanent job search. But could it potentially be better than W2 work? Say I sign a 1 year contract, could I still get laid off from that, just as a normal employee of the company could? Or would I be for sure working for that full year?

Sorry it's a silly question, I'm still coming to understand how all these terms work. I'm a graphic designer as well, if that matters. Thanks!

For example, tomorrow i’m working 10am-4pm, not getting payed for it, instead i’m getting my ‘time back’ on my next shift. Are they allowed to do this? - idk if i explained this well so long story short say I have 12 contracted hours, they will make it seem at first as if I have done overtime but then within the week i may come in for just an hour because they took that overtime and made it contracted?.. if you get what i mean. even though i keep asking for more hours. My manager says it’s payment restrictions but doesn’t tell me i’m not getting extra pay for those hours until i get sent home after an hour. What can I do?

edit - it was in lieu, HOWEVER I had no idea this was even a thing. I didn’t agree to this. I was clueless this was even happening. just got sent home last shift.

ANOTHER EDIT - this is what i found on google, but i feel bad if i say anything because she told me after i took toil not knowing I took toil. (yes stupid I know) I reckon next time i notice i’ve been put down as that i will say something i just don’t know what.

If you do not want to take Time Off in Lieu (TOIL), your employer cannot force you to take it, as TOIL is an arrangement that must be agreed upon by both parties. You can request to be paid for your overtime instead, especially if you are leaving your job, as employers are often legally obligated to pay for accrued, unused time off. You can also decline the offer of TOIL by stating you would prefer overtime pay or to focus on other commitments. Your Rights Regarding TOIL Not Mandatory: Employers cannot force an employee to take TOIL, as it is a voluntary agreement. Payment in Lieu: If you leave a job with unused TOIL, your employer is legally required to pay you for that time at your standard rate of pay. Contractual Agreement: TOIL arrangements are typically outlined in an employment contract. You have the right to understand your contract's terms regarding overtime and TOIL. How to Respond State Your Preference: You can directly tell your employer that you do not wish to take TOIL and would prefer to receive overtime pay. Refer to Your Contract: If your contract does not specify TOIL or clearly states you will receive payment for overtime, you can use this to support your request for payment. If Leaving a Job: If you are leaving your employment, you have a stronger case to request payment for any accrued TOIL, as this is a legal requirement in the UK. If Your Employer Insists Seek Guidance: If you are still being pressured to take TOIL, you can seek advice from resources like the ACAS website (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service). Check Your Contract: Review your employment contract to see if it specifies whether you receive overtime pay or TOIL.

I have been applying to new places, in an effort to get a bit of a pay rise. The $60 per hour is a lot, but not unheard of for this position, considering what they want from me. What gets me is the Net Payment terms, the proof of ID and Work Authorization copy.

This is from a recruiter, and not directly with the company.

I live in New York City...

Recently I went over a job posting, and all it stated were the skills they were looking for.

I applied, went to the interview, and the guy literally said they were looking for long term employees.

I got the job in August, then went to training for 3 weeks until September.

Then within the third week, we all got a mass email from HR in legalize stating that our employment expires in November 15.

A lot of us were talking about it amongst each other and completely confused. We did not fully understand it... Some of us just came to the conclusion that we'd either be let go by that date or get an extension.

Then that day came, and we got an email saying that our end of our employment with the company was approaching.

Personally, I just let it play out and accepted being laid off... I did not care for the job because I already had another job that I was already working at before taking this new job.... I was already working 2 jobs.

But I will admit that when we got that layoff email... I was a bit mad inside because I was genuinely considering quitting my second job. What if I had quit that job?

Also annoying to waste peoples time. I feel like they knew nobody was going to apply to a temp position, so they did not mention it until after we were hired.

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting here. I was recently offered a job and I was told once I got the offer that I would be a 1099 employee not a regular W-2 employee. The job description did not list it as a 1099 job it only stated that it was a part-time position in office M-F 30 hours a week and the pay is $20. My question is how is this a 1099 job if I am being told when, where, and what times to work? This is a very well-known nationwide organization dealing with civil rights and I am excited to potentially be a part of it, but legally it seems like I will not be a direct employee. I am very concerned about proceeding with a 1099 job as I’ve never had one before and I know that the taxes will be on me. I am located in Illinois if this helps. I was offered this job on Friday and expected to start this week. I am asking for the contract before agreeing to anything. Job market has been very brutal, any insights would be appreciated.

i’m a salaried employee, work 9-5, have a bunch of unused sick days, personal days, and vacation days available to use.

yesterday i was presented with a last minute opportunity to work a modelling gig for a very good rate.

as the gig coincides with my regular working hours, i’m considering calling in sick or using one of my personal days to make this work.

i’m a great employee, don’t typically take much time off aside from pre-approved vacations and a very occasional sick day. the gig would not be a conflict of interest with my current role.

how much of a faux pas is this? is it worth telling my manager about or should i just take the day off and provide limited details?

located in Canada if that makes a difference!

Need advice on job decision in Canada.

I’m currently in a permanent role with decent pay (~$80k), 3 weeks vacation, OK benefits/pension, and some potential to move into a management position down the road. The downside is that the workload is heavy, there’s talk of being added to an on-call rotation, and I’m often asked to do work outside the scope of my role. It feels a bit stressful and uncertain even though it’s “permanent.”

I’ve also been offered a 1-year contract role with the federal government. It pays about $90k, comes with 4 weeks vacation, and has the federal benefits/pension. It’s a maternity leave backfill, so it likely won’t be renewed. That means I’d be job hunting again in a year.

My long-term goal is to get into the federal government. I know there’s talk of job freezes and cuts, which worries me, but I also hear that having federal experience (even on contract) makes you much more competitive for future roles.

So I’m torn:

Permanent role = stability, but high workload and unclear future.

Federal contract = short-term, but better pay/benefits, better work-life balance, and a possible stepping stone into the federal system.

Which would you choose, given the job market in Canada right now?

I just recently got a job but it’s only contract for 1 month. Their word “we really want to keep you but right now can only afford to contract you for 1 month. We have a project coming soon that’ll require longer. We will see how things go after your contract ends of within 2 weeks.”

I’m in need of a job asap so I took the contract job. Is this there way of testing if I’m a right fit and might decide to hire later or it’s actually like they say just contract and I should not hope for anything more and kinda still look for job on the side?

Has anyone had success on this website for applying to gigs or college-based roles?

Title says a lot of it, but it's something I've noticed while stuck in the vortex that is the current job market.

EDIT: ...I can't edit the title, because Reddit lol....but just realized how wonky the last of that ended up phrased. New Title:
Anyone else feel like staffing firms have taken over too much of the market, charge too much to justify what they actually do, and basically leech off of people because companies have gotten too dependent on being too cheap to hire their own hiring teams? "

And it's not as harmless as people let on...actually feels like it's instead really gotten outta hand.

Got an email I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to get, and haven't been able to frame my thoughts on this differently, because of how "like clockwork" things played out. Was working for about $45/hr, wage-contract. Definitely was excited, as that's the most money I would've ever made.

But then the welcome email hit, and they left an email in the chain that they weren't supposed to: "Is [my name] approved for the hourly rate of [hourly rate] and 40hrs per week?"

...the hourly rate that the staffing company was charging was $110/hr. for my work. ... while paying me $45. The reason that bothers me isn't what you think...

Stepped back before reacting, because I was also new to staffing arrangements, so I was like "okay...maybe this is one of those moments where it's completely normal and ends up making itself worth it in the end. Don't take the "ugh why are you making more than me off my own work?"

It didn't bother me that they were charging nearly 2.5x my pay... but what immediately popped into my head was "I have to justify $110/hr with my work...as soon as things start to go weak here, I'm the first gone." and I watched it play out like clockwork.

Busted my booty trying to provide as much value as possible. But inevitably, within 2 months, they lost one big client, and then suddenly no budget to pay me anymore. Wasn't even my fault, and yeah I get people get let go frequently for similar reasons.

But I can't stop thinking about the fact that that wouldn't have happened if it weren't for the $110/hr that they couldn't pay...and had one of their managers even say that they could otherwise afford a regular developers rate

That should've been my moment to be able to say "I could work for $40/$45 per hour." (what I was being paid anyway)

But I can't, because staffing companies go an extra level of lockdown greedy, and put NCA/Non-solicits in their contract.....even if they're the ones failing to provide the service, I can't take it over at a lower rate.

And I'm just stuck in this cycle knowing that that staffing company did absolutely nothing to justify the margin. All they did was facilitate the initial interview, and then occasionally they call or text (as in once every 1-2 months) to ask me "how ya doin?" "Still no job...how do you think I'm doing..." "oh..well go look on our in-house job board and let us know if you find anything you're interested in."

Yet I know I could get that previous client to say yes to me. The entire team loved the work I was doing, and even though they knew I was contract-based, at least once a week I'd get a message from some random team member going "Are you sticking around?"

Yet I can't...because of staffing firm greed.

And now that I'm back in the job market, I'm not touching anymore staffing / recruitment / talent firms, yet now that I know what to look for, I see them everywhere, and shake my head every time. People like Dice, Robert Half, Insight Global, and then a few companies trying their hand at AI versions of it...It's like now it's incredibly hard to simply talk to the actual business that's hiring (or at least ti feels like it) and everything's getting proxied through staffing/talent firms.

It's all built around needlessly inserting themselves between clients and employees, and then taking a massive cut of the pie in the process, while they do absolutely nothing to justify needing that, nor do they provide ANY of the job-securities that they promise during on-boarding.

And then you look at their linkedin profiles and whatnot? All they do is talk about account managers and recruiters, etc. That's all their personalities are....are injecting account managers and recruiters into the ecosystem, needlessly and without actually doing what they're meant to do.

All they do is make the initial meetings happen and then expect a 150% markup of what they pay you, ad-infinitum, while providing none of the benefits they promised, and while actively blocking everyone from otherwise getting the job fairly by trying to hoard exclusivity with clients.

So I graduated a few months ago and mainly had interviews through staffing agencies (stopped actually applying and just prayed that I would get a job through them). In the end I got a offer through Insight Global.

Since this is a 6 month contract what can I expect at the end of it. In the email it says there is potential for conversion and/or extension at the end of this assignment.

Does this mean that there is a chance of me being paid on a salary? Or does this mean I would just continue to work with the same conditions. Also how likely is it to happen. Should I just not hope for the best and start applying again at the 4 month mark?

Hi all. I am in the state of Colorado and work for a small business. I have been there for 10 months.

The business technically has zero employees, as all of us are independent contractors. There about a dozen contractors. The boss definitely collected our 1099s, but no real form of contract. He gave me a loose job description and asked me to just “sign anywhere on the page” and has a copy of that document - which is a printed list of job duties from chatgpt with my signature on it, a line that says “$1600 every 2 weeks” and the qualifier “1099 independent contractor” - as my contract on file. That document isn’t signed by him or anyone else besides me, and it does not have any language such as employment agreement, contract, terms, or anything else.

I am definitely aware that I am a misclassified employee. I do not get to choose my own hours or projects. I am required to formally request time off and was berated for doing so. I absolutely am part of the daily functions of the business, and when I leave, I would have to be immediately replaced in order for things to continue to function. I have a sort of program coordinator sort of role and also do the majority of the company’s graphic design (which I am formally trained in). I’m given a decent amount of authority on behalf of the company and regularly negotiate, sign, and enter into legal agreements with other organizations or individuals. I work on site at the business, on their computer, with their software. I do not receive any benefits and I don’t get pay stubs, I just get a check every other Friday.

I track my income and set aside a portion for taxes and reported all of it and paid the taxes this spring, so I’m not very worried about if I can get in trouble because I’m pretty sure I’ve covered my bases in terms of my personal taxes.

What does worry me: it has recently come to my attention that my boss is intentionally keeping cash income off the books to avoid taxes. He also lied to the governing body of our industry in order to get equipment approved without proper testing.

The other thing is that I mentioned something to a client about being an independent contractor, and my boss called me into his office and kind of flipped his lid, saying that he has gone above and beyond for me and that I’m an employee and should tell people that, I shouldn’t distance myself from him because it’s disrespectful and minimizes our relationship. The 1099 thing is only for tax stuff, he said, and if you don’t understand the deeper dynamic of our relationship as a family in this company that’s not acceptable to me.

I have had fun working in this industry and was ok with paying the higher taxes and tracking my own income for a while. But now, between these recent events, I think I need to make an exit from the company. The problem is…

My boss is (as of last week) currently being sued and is on the verge of bankruptcy. To clarify, the company is being sued, not my boss personally. We are being sued for not paying a different independent contractor, our ex sales director. My boss says that the contractor didn’t deliver the services promised and therefore he isn’t owed the money. It is also worth mentioning that there is no contract in that relationship either, and that is currently a primary issue of the suit - whether any of this is enforceable with no evidence whatsoever of an agreement. And the boss is doing a counter suit for supposed damages caused by said contractor to the company.

I feel that the writing on the wall is that I will end up in the exact same situation. I do believe that if I exit based on the fact that I can no longer conscientiously work for the company based on the lies and not paying taxes, I will not be paid for the past month of work and will potentially be sued.

What would you do in this situation?

The truth is, what I would really want is to have outside interference, such as department of labor or irs or something to know what is going on and that give me the ability to exit while knowing that I will be paid what I owed and no retaliation against me can be taken. That would have to be confidential though, because I would truly fear his reaction if I were to do that openly.

My coworker, the bookkeeper, is in the same situation where she is very misclassified, but she believes that the best course of action is to just ride it out and wait for him to probably declare bankruptcy and then the company will probably close - then we will be able to make an exit without having risked any retaliation by reporting anything or causing a fuss. I worry that in that situation we may not get paid, or that we could be construed as potentially complicit in some of the rules that have been broken, especially the cash transactions that weren’t on the books.

But she is afraid of him, and after the other day when he yelled at me for having disclosed that I am contract labor, I really don’t blame her.

PS- one other weird thing. We have another employee who works in the warehouse and he’s not 1099, he actually does not get paid at all. The official line is that he’s a volunteer - but can you have a volunteer at a for profit entity or isn’t that more of a nonprofit thing? He says he does not want to get paid. He works about 25 hours a week. Is this something else I could or should report?