Pros and Cons of Temporary Vs Permanent Jobs
In an era where there is a lot of volatility in the jobs market and many people are seeking the maximum job security possible, many others are taking on temporary jobs and entering the gig economy instead, with short-term contracts. We will take a look at the pros and cons of temporary vs permanent jobs and why people may prefer one of the other at this point in time.
Pros of Temporary Jobs
One of the best things about temporary jobs is that you can work with a company for a short amount of time and never get bogged down in the office politics and backbiting that characterises a great many workplaces, making it a much more pleasant experience for you.
Many of the temporary jobs will be for several months until certain contracted actions have been completed, so you will be able to plan for it to end at a certain point and look for something new closer to that point.
There is a feeling of closure when you leave a temporary job, having completed the task that you were hired to do, to the satisfaction of both the client and yourself.
When people join the team for a short period of time to complete a certain task, they are often treated as an expert in their field and are given a level of respect and remuneration that most permanent employees never quite reach from the management.
Cons of Temporary Jobs
The major con of a temporary job is the lack of job security that comes with knowing it is only going to be for a month or two and then you will have to find something else in order to pay the bills.
Never quite being absorbed into the company culture can also mean that you miss out on social opportunities and are overlooked when it comes to things like going out for drinks for someone’s birthday. This can be because the others either don’t know you are there, have forgotten to ask if you would like to join them, or don’t feel close enough to you to ask you along.
Management may try to micromanage you more than other members of the team, to keep you focused on what you are being paid to do, rather than conversing with other team members. There can be an expectation that you should bring much more to the company than the other regular full-time employees because you are a consultant who is being paid a higher hourly rate than the rest.
How much you are paid can also be a bone of contention between you and the rest of the staff. There are probably some who believe they could and should be getting paid as well as you are but didn’t get the chance to try out for the position that you have been recruited to.
Pros of Permanent Jobs
Permanent jobs can offer far more job security than is generally available for those on temporary contacts. It may be possible to have a temporary contract extended but the reality for most of them tends to be that they will be looking for work again toward the last month or so of the contract.
At a time when more and more people are looking for secure jobs, due to economic worries and a cost of living crisis, it can seem pretty counterintuitive to take on a temporary job that will soon be finished.
With a permanent job you know how much money you will be earning each month and you are therefore able to budget much more easily for the expenses that you have to meet every month. You will be aware of how much money you are able to save each month if such a thing is possible, and you won’t have to face the added complication of self-assessment taxes.
Being able to build lasting and fruitful relationships with work colleagues can be one of the best things about permanent work. When you share a workplace with regular colleagues, many of them become friends and there have been quite a number of successful workplace romances as well. These simply wouldn’t be possible if you were a temporary worker who was leaving soon.
Your pool of people to network with will be pretty good after spending a sustained period of time at a company, as you will have seen former colleagues go on to different jobs both within and without the sector and you can keep up with them on professional social media like LinkedIn.
Cons of Permanent Jobs
Despite being called permanent jobs, they can actually prove to be anything but. You may have a permanent contract but companies lay off people often, particularly during economic downturns and recessions. It can actually be a lot harder when you think you are settled at a job to be told that your services are no longer required and you are made redundant in the latest round of staffing cuts.
Permanent jobs are often not paid as well as short-term contractor jobs and this means that it can actually feel like you are at a disadvantage for having given your committed service to a particular company. It can be quite demoralising when a freelancer with similar skills can be brought in and paid more than you for the short time that they are there, and this can definitely breed resentment.
Another prominent con of working permanently in the same job is just that, the fact that you are doing the same job all of the time. People who choose to work in temporary jobs have a much more varied set of tasks and typically don’t have to do the same thing day in and day out.
There is also the commute to think about. Since Covid, many of the temporary jobs have been completely remote, but permanent jobs have faced pressure to come back to the office. If location independence is important to you, it isn’t really sustainable with more permanent jobs.
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