Making the move to permanent work from contract?

["Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Anonymous reports: <<At the moment I am a contractor working as an
autonomous/empowered 'Senior Technical Writer'... If
I was a 'real' external contractor I would be charging a good deal more for
my services. My current HR level, is, let's say 'high'.>>

Sounds like you're happy with the current position. If so, the obvious
question becomes: What benefits would you get by moving to a permanent
position? The followup question: Are these benefits enough to make you
accept a pay cut? Stability of employment certainly isn't a benefit, since
permanent employees are usually cut off at the knees before contractors get
the axe.

<<I have been offered a permanent position in a different division of the
same employer (with all the same responsibilities and title) but with a
substantial pay cut (15%) and at an HR level 'medium'. I questioned the pay
ceiling they were offering and was told to consider all the benefits which
come with being a permanent employee.>>

Are those benefits going to make up for a 15% pay cut? Probably not. Point
out to the person who offered the job that you're already classified as
"high", and that you'd work for them in a second if they gave you the same
classification rating. Another thing you might want to point out is that
your current boss is likely to be offended if you leave him or her for less
pay. ("Hmmm... I thought he liked me, but if he's desperate enough to take a
serious pay cut to get away from me...") That leads to bad kharma if you
choose to return to the contract life in future. However, it looks like
there's plenty of wiggle room:

<<The pay band for 'medium' level employees covers my current salary which
is by no means even close to market in our area but certainly satisfies my
own salary requirements. My current pay is exactly what I feel the job's
responsibilities are worth both to me and the employer.>>

Why not offer a compromise? "I'll be happy to take the job provided that I
don't take a pay cut. This way, you get to downgrade me to a 'medium'
classification, but I don't have to suffer a pay cut for the privelege." You
don't lose anything, and gain room to advance within the corporation. Might
be an easy sell! Another note: "Market rate" is something of a moving
target. Don't expect that you'll be able to get it, particularly in these
relatively tough economic times for our profession.

<<I have proved myself repeatedly to this employer and I would hate to have
to start all over again.>>

Mention this. Any reasonable employer will understand how you feel, and if
they're not reasonable, you probably don't want to work for them anyway.

<<This is an extremely large, international employer>>

Would you be more upwardly mobile as an employee? That is, how long would
you have to wait for a job classified as "high" in HR terms to come along?
I've twice accepted a small pay cut because I knew I'd make up the
difference quickly in terms of opportunities for advancement. Worked well
for me, but then again, I had no dependents or debts and was highly mobile.

Obviously, these are only my opinions. You need to have a careful look at
your own priorities and tolerance for risk. But based on what you've said,
you probably have much more negotiating power than you might think.

--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada 

"Wisdom is one of the few things that look bigger the further away it
is."--Terry Pratchett

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