> these companies have no role in the day-to-day, just introducing the contractor and just sitting back collecting money with no effort at all
The company is also responsible for the job getting done if you get hit by a bus or say "Fuck it" and disappear.
But in long-term customer contracts with the same personnel, there should absolutely be a decrease in the gap between billable rate and salary.
If the customer keeps someone around that long: they're working with that person, not the company.
The other legitimate reason for markup (on both sides) is optionality around immediate arbitrary filing. Even in the US / "right to work" states, firing can be messy. Severing contracts is much less messy / quicker.
So some of the premium is for being able to treat contractors like contracts rather than employees/people.
The company is also responsible for the job getting done if you get hit by a bus or say "Fuck it" and disappear.
But in long-term customer contracts with the same personnel, there should absolutely be a decrease in the gap between billable rate and salary.
If the customer keeps someone around that long: they're working with that person, not the company.
The other legitimate reason for markup (on both sides) is optionality around immediate arbitrary filing. Even in the US / "right to work" states, firing can be messy. Severing contracts is much less messy / quicker.
So some of the premium is for being able to treat contractors like contracts rather than employees/people.