The Invisible Contractor
A reader sent the following, about the Invisible Contractor, in response to one of our previous Unemployed IT Stories.
‘Here is my story. I hope you can use it on your site’.
Can anyone help me? I think I might have gone invisible.
I‘ve been an IT contractor for about 7 years. Things were going really
well. I liked the life and I earned a decent amount. So, last spring I decided
I had worked hard and deserved a break. I took the summer off, therefore, and pottered
about the house and garden.
Refreshed in body and mind I decided to lookfor work again. I read on the Internet that there was an IT skills shortage.
‘So, Its lucky that I am available again’ I thought. When an
employer put out the word that they needed a skilled Visual C++ programmer,
I shouted, ‘Here I am! I can do it! Give me a contract! Hello? Hello?’
Apparently no one could hear me.
Realisation Dawned
So it was then that the realisation dawned.
I gradually became aware that no one outside my house could see or hear me
anymore. When I went to the shops people would bump into me and automatic
doors no longer opened when I approached.
The employers complained to the government that they had an IT personnel
shortage. The Prime Minister said ‘No problemo. I know what to do’. It
turned out that the far country of Fastvisia had a surplus of top-notch, top
drawer, top of the range IT people with finely-honed skills.
As it happened the Fastvisians needed little money to live on as their religion forbade the
wearing of clothes, dictated that they survive solely on lentils and
recommended hopping as the only true form of transport. Thus they were able
to come and work in the UK at a very reasonable price.
Prime Minister Pleased
So, the Prime Minister was pleased with the plan, but said, ‘Hold on a mo, we must check that there are no home-grown contractors who could do the work’. I shouted out again,
a bit more desperately this time ‘Me! Me! Me! I can do it! I can provide my
own computer and pens and pencils! I‘ll work late! I‘ll work Sundays! I
really like lentils!’
Even though the bit about lentils was a lie, still no one could hear me.
So, the industrious Fastvisians arrived by the planeload and set to work. They
worked hard and fitted in well, although some of their religious principles
had to be relaxed a little. It was a common sight to see them, therefore, hopping
though the IT departments of the land wearing see-through raincoats to keep
warm.
It‘s Catching
So, after a few more months of invisibility I started to wonder if only I was
afflicted in this way. Perhaps other contractors had gone invisible as
well. There was no way of knowing. I refuse to give up hope though. I am
still able to type and if only I could attract someone‘s attention I know I
could still work.
Anyway I‘m off now to wrap myself in bandages, put on a raincoat and a
foolish hat and get down to the Job Centre to register myself unemployed.
So, now I know the true meaning of someone not ‘showing up’ in the jobless
statistics.
Hve you become an invisible contractor?
If you have your own IT unemployment story, good or bad, please send it to us and we might publish it.
