CONTRACT JOBS ON INCREASE

There is no longer security of tenure and no allowance for normal long term planning for upward mobility at specific corporate houses of choice as was the custom. Nonetheless, it is part of the reality of companies battling to be competitive in a world where the emphasis is increasingly on productivity and with it cost shaving. It is a situation dictated by the move, internationally, toward unfettered free trade, embodied in the World Trade Organisation’s no-nonsense and eminently practical rules and regulations. In this environment there are no trade unions to represent their interests and no bargaining for revised salary structures or allowances and other perks.

However, while the remuneration packages may be relatively high in most, if not all of the cases, and are described in paid media announcements as either “competitive compensation packages” or with terms and conditions of employment being negotiable, the harsh truth is that at the end of the contracts all that the individuals have, apart from understandably desirable improved bank accounts and possible investments are additions to their curriculum vitae [CVs]. Many of those applying for the positions on contract may be young University graduates or post graduates who prefer not to be “tied down” to any particular job for long. This carries with it its own pluses and minuses.

Admittedly, some of the jobs offered may be actually short term and designed to last only for the period advertised. However, others although they are linked to projects which may run for 20 to 30 years, nevertheless the potential employers may wish to have persons in the jobs, who have been exposed to the latest technological advances. The remuneration packages at the end of the negotiations will depend on the proven grasp of and/or exposure to the technology being employed.

The relevant corporate houses, though, do not have any workers they may consider redundant, to sever, no attrition and severance payments to negotiate with a third party and pay out. Meanwhile, with high productivity sought and demanded, internationally, and with the prodding provided by cheaper goods and services particularly out of China being the yardstick Trinidad and Tobago’s manufacturers, inter alia, are required to reduce costs and effect competitive pricing or risk the possibility of their goods being less attractive enough in the international market place.

However, although there may be no pension benefits accompanying contract jobs, yet today’s upwardly mobile University graduates, who are specialists in areas in demand can, because of the salaries they command, select and contribute to specially tailored pension plans offered by insurance companies. The holders of positions on contract, while they may bargain for salaries somewhat in excess of those obtaining on the standard market, nonetheless are expected to work and produce that much more efficiently so as to have this reflected in recommendations. In addition, excellent recommendations will put them in a more favourable position when seeking to climb the next rungs of the corporate ladder.