I was working as a contractor for an HR subcontracting firm. I found a job listing online from my contracting employer for a full-time job. It was as if he’d looked at my resume and written the job specifically for me. He was a great guy, and we got along fine. He was also a practicing Christian. Which explains why he was honest with me. He said, “No, the job’s not real. None of my current advertisements are for real positions. I have to have a list of current resumes if someone comes asking for a particular type of employee.” I started keeping track. My particular specialty was narrow, and I usually knew who had real jobs and who didn’t. I realized that for that time period none of the dozens of postings were real. They were all collecting resumes just in case they got a contract and suddenly needed a dozen people.
That’s how it works. Company A gets a contract, and they’re expected to start performing RGHT NOW. But no one has a staff of idle, qualified people just sitting around waiting for A to get a contract. A gets a contract and they need people within the month.
It used to be that big companies, like Honeywell and General Dynamics could let qualified people sit on overhead until they were needed. But not anymore. If they don’t have a billable job for the employees, the employees are gone before the next pay period starts.
I'm looking for the "practicing Christian" part. (Is it really because although he lied to the world, he didn't lie to you?)
Just as there is “Just In Time” Inventory, there is “Just In Time” employees.
“”No one has a staff of idle, qualified people just sitting around waiting for A to get a contract.
It used to be that big companies, like Honeywell and General Dynamics, could let qualified people sit on overhead until they were needed. But not anymore. If they don’t have a billable job for the employees, the employees are gone before the next pay period starts.””
Boeing Aerospace is a great example. NASA used to issue Cost Plus contracts. No matter what the dollar amount of the original contract/bid, the company could just send a bill for the cost overruns, and the government would write the check. For larger projects, Boeing probably ‘spread the wealth around’ to many Boeing staff. Now that NASA only issues fixed-price contracts, the company needs to remain within the contract limits. Any cost overruns are the contractor’s responsibility. The Boeing StarLiner space capsule, currently attached to the Space Station, is a great example. It is a fixed-price contract, Boeing is waaaaay over budget, and all cost overruns are Boeing’s responsibility. The only way Boeing was going to even break even, let alone make a profit, was to sell more StarLiner flights. With the specific StarLiner issues, and Boeing’s overall issues, I doubt any public OR private entities are going to hire and trust Boeing to perform.
Most consulting companies like IBM have a bench and they’ll keep people around for a couple of months if they’re unbillable.