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Earn More Than a Full-Timer
By Prashant Gopal
Jobs are hard to come by these days, but job seekers willing to take temporary work have more options. Employers in uncertain times often feel more comfortable hiring temporary or contract workers than hiring permanent employees who require expensive benefits and can't be laid off as easily. So what are the best contract jobs? We worked with Seattle-based PayScale to find out.
One thing that we were surprised to learn is that many of these jobs pay significantly better than permanent jobs. (Of course, contract workers don’t typically get healthcare and other comparable benefits, which can make up 30% of a permanent employee’s salary). A database administrator on a temporary contract, for example, earns 23% more than a permanent employee doing the same work. Physical therapy assistants make 19% more. Contracted customer service and security managers make significantly less than their counterparts without contracts.
Methodology: The report is based on U.S. employee profiles collected by PayScale and was limited to workers with at least five years' experience in their field. "Contract workers" are employees who reported to PayScale that they had a contractual relationship with their employer that dictated their responsibilities, salary, benefits, and the length of their contract. The median annual pay includes salary, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, and other forms of cash earnings. But it doesn't include stock compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or value of health-care or other non-cash benefits.
Source: PayScale
