I actually think independent contractors are the business model of the
future. In Silicon Valley, contractors are increasingly becoming the norm.
A lot of companies employee a significant part of their staff as
contractors. The benefits are numerous. For the company, it is usually
cheaper to hire technical contractors only for as long as needed than to
hire them as a full-time employee. Additionally, it allows the company to
adapt its staff more quickly to the changing business environment without
the hassle of hiring and firing. For the contractor, there is usually
significantly more money, more freedom, some lifestyle benefits, and the
satisfaction of working for yourself.
A business form that has started to appear occasionally is groups of
loosely associated independent contractors forming somewhat transient
virtual companies, only staying together for as long as necessary and then
going their own ways.
I strongly approve of this form of economics because it promotes individual
freedom, reduces corporate bureaucracy, and it more closely ties an
individual's income with his abilities, usefulness, and performance. The
only downside is that the government makes it more difficult and expensive
to operate this way. The government prefers that everyone be a faceless
corporate cubicle clone.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com