April 18, 2023
Due to the layoffs at several of Seattle’s top IT businesses, like Microsoft and Amazon, third-party recruiters have reached out to them to offer new employment. However, the roles being advertised are contract positions rather than full-time employment, which implies lesser pay, no benefits, no stock options, and a set expiration date.
Even as IT businesses continue to lay off staff, recruiters have begun reaching out to these people. Amazon has lost 27,000 positions since November, while Microsoft wants to reduce 10,000 workers this year. However, third-party recruiters continue to cast a broad net, resulting in newly laid-off employees remaining in the pool of possible prospects.
Recruiters may send rude or offensive comments to people who have just lost their employment. Some of these employees may be unwilling to return to the employer that laid them off for a reduced income. A former Microsoft employee stated that despite their rejection to choose a contract position over a full-time employment, a recruiter insisted that they would be a good match for the firm.
Recruiters, according to Lawrence Dearth, president of Insight Global, attempt to connect with qualified individuals and share their resumes with 10 to 15 different organizations, which may include the worker’s prior company and 14 other companies.
When hiring for a contract post that requires a short ramp-up period, tech businesses frequently ask recruiters to discover individuals who have previously worked for them. However, an Amazon spokeswoman stressed that contract workers are not intended to replace full-time staff.
Nonetheless, recruiters have approached some former Amazon employees and asked if they would consider returning to the firm on a contract basis. In response, one employee advised the recruiter to inform Amazon that if they wanted an engineer, they should not lay them off later that month.
The sources for this piece include an article in SeattleTimes.
