How fun is that? You go to work day after day, do your job well and they suddenly, one fine day your job is over….and you knew it was coming the whole time, in fact you knew from the day you got it.

And so you leave, and file for unemployment while searching for a new job….but wait! 100 magical days later, you could start the same job all over again…

Well, that’s the fun of contract employment at Microsoft…well to be fair, its almost anywhere, not just Microsoft.

Here is how we got in this mess: Back in 1992, Microsoft had what people called “permatemps. temporary employees who worked long term contracts, as in years long term. But since they were paid through a staffing agency, no benefits, no stock options, no stock purchase plan. So a bunch of these people who felt they were being taken advantage of sued. Jump to 2000, and Microsoft settles the lawsuit and changes the rules. Now, among other changes, all Temporary contracts have to be 1 year or less in duration, with a 100 day break in between.