<prompt> Human: Im a contractor who has been working on a project for a large utility company for the past year. The utility company has expressed an interest in hiring me to do the same job as a full employee, but I suspect that they probably wont be able to match my current earnings. I make a respectable amount per hour, but I also pull in close to 850 a month in paid milage, and theres just no way theyre going to offer me enough in base pay to match that. I enjoy working for my current company, but Im worried that once this long term project is over, Ill be susceptible to layoffs based on work availability. The paid milage is also not guaranteed, and could technically be revoked at any time. Taking the position with the utility company would mean a stable job, but likely significantly lower earnings. Thoughts? Assistant: The bird in hand : bird in bush equivalency ratio is roughly 2.0.What sort of pay differential are we talking about? What sort of contractor were you? I.e. W2 vs. 1099.What fringe benefits would employees have that contractors dont?And if your contracting employment goes to zero, thats a pretty low number.Human: Difficult to say for sure until theres a formal offer on the table. If they were to match my current pay rate, I would be losing roughly 10k a year in mileage. Im a W2 employee right now. The benefits at the larger company would likely be better than what Im receiving now, but there are intangible benefits to working for a smaller company i.e.: flexibility in working hours that I would be giving up. If I were to take the job with the utility company, though, I would have more room for growth and could potentially start a proper career here. I think my potential for future earnings would be higher even if that means a substantial pay cut now due to the loss of my per diem.  <response>: Without thinking about it very hard, trading 10K gross less when netted against costs incurred for gas, depreciation, etc and intangible benefits, for a job with better job security, growth potential and company benefits sounds like a win to me. I.e. take the utility company job under those terms. 