# Unhappy at work. Should I talk to my boss? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 24, 2007, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhappy-at-work-should-i-talk-to-my-boss/401452 "2007-04-24T14:32:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhappy-at-work-should-i-talk-to-my-boss/401452/21 "2007-04-24T23:18:36Z")
[QUOTE=Winston Smith] I’m really leery of temp positions. I’ve got a wife and two kids (4 & 2) at home, a giant mortgage, preschool to pay for, etc. Plus, from what I’ve seen contract/temp salary is only about $70k to $80k max, and I’d have to pay health insurance for the family out of my pocket, so financially it really wouldn’t work. I’ve thought about it, though. [/QUOTE] Your maxes for contracting are somewhat typical but not the true maxes for people with the right skills. I started out as a contractor with my present company and actually liked it better before they strong-armed me into converting to a permanent employee. Contractors generally get paid more per hour than regular employees as compensation for a (supposedly) more unsteady position and the fact that they don’t get benefits. $50 an hour translates into 100K a year not counting overtime and that isn’t a rarefied rate. Once you push past that, the skill demands become more specific but there are plenty of contractors that make 120K a year or more. All hours are billable and I was always treated great in my two contracting positions. They usually don’t have any problem extending good contractors and I have known many people that have done it 5+ years and some have even been working at the same company for 5 - 10 years. A small paradox is that contractors are often the ones left behind when layoffs come because they still need people to do the work and they know that they can get rid of contractors anytime they want (so they don’t). ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhappy-at-work-should-i-talk-to-my-boss/401452/22 "2007-04-24T23:28:54Z")
My sister’s fiance does IT contract work, and he commands $100 per hour. I wouldn’t write it off as a short-term solution. Well, if finances mean you have to suck it up for a year, then I guess that’s what you have to do. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhappy-at-work-should-i-talk-to-my-boss/401452/23 "2007-04-25T02:26:56Z")
My husband makes enough as an IT contract employee that I don’t have to work, and he’ll be taking off the next 3-6 months just because. > [@](#): > > Did I mention the Desktop Support guy I sit next to? He goes out of his way to tell users I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. He constantly calls me a fag, a sissy, a homo (I’m not even gay). He’s threatened me on so many occassions I can’t even count - to stab me, to cut my throat, to beat me up and steal my lunch money (seriously). He’s got a shooting target hanging on his cube wall with Osama Bin Laden printed on it. He’s got a bunch of spent shells on his desk. He just applied for and received his license to carry concealed weapons. He’s a classic bully. I don’t really worry about him actually doing anything, but it’s annoying nonetheless. I fight fire with fire. I call him Sally or Mary. I dish it back to him, in other words, lest he should start to think… I don’t even know. But not taking his constant onslaught of shit laying down does seem to help a bit. I’ve seen him manhandle women here in the office. He constantly makes lewd comments to our team lead (she loves the attention). He’s a hard worker, though, so I think he gets away with way more than he should. The man threatened your _life_!? Pretend someone else wrote the OP. What would you tell them to do in your situation? No one should have to put up with having their life threatened, let alone the other forms of harassment he’s dealt you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unhappy-at-work-should-i-talk-to-my-boss/401452.md?page=1)