
Ask HN: Need advise on re-negotiating contract rate - throwawaycontr
A bit of background:<p>I was hired on a contract position for 3 months, last fall. The team was strugling, so they asked to extend my contract by 6 months, which I agreed to. This is now coming to an end and I&#x27;ve been asked to extend it further 6 months. My initial goal was to stay for 3-6 months and then move on. I&#x27;m relatively new to contracting, so I want to try different things. I am quite senior and have good network - getting jobs seems to be very easy.<p>I am currently charging a fair, probably slightly high rate (judging from what I hear when speaking to other contractors). The project is a very important project for the client, a major stock-listed company. Management are clueless and have not been able to hire skilled developers. In fact, they have lost several over the last couple of months. I have managed to stay clear of all politics and eveyone loves me (developers and management alike). I&#x27;m not misserable, but it&#x27;s also a slightly depressing place to work, so my thoughts were to move on at the end of the contract. I have an offer for a new contract at another place, which sounds like much more fun.<p>My dilemma now is that I am certain that it would be a near disaster for the project if I don&#x27;t agree to prolong my stay. I know money are aplenty. So naturally I&#x27;m considering to offer to stay, but at a higher rate. To make it worthwhile for me, this would have to be substantial. But how much is reasonable? Is double rate crazy? I don&#x27;t want to be unprofessional, OTOH I never offered to stay and the mismanagement isn&#x27;t my fault.
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dozzie
Note that you don't owe the company any loyalty (apart from what could be
reasonably expected from a professional), so if the project fails without you,
it's not (and shouldn't be) your problem. If it succeeds, they won't share
profits from it with you. Also, you already sort of want to go elsewhere, and
you even have an offer you want to take, so you have quite solid plans.

What I would do is to explain to the current company your plans and the fact
that you would consider staying, but for a substantial raise, and then let the
company decide whether to try to keep you.

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smt88
Why is it a disaster if you leave? Is your code difficult to learn and/or
maintain?

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throwawaycontr
They are severely understaffed. I am the most (only, really) senior developer
on the team, and they have hard deadlines approaching. Even if they hired a
rock star today, it would still take several months to get to know all the ins
and outs. This is a complex business-system.

~~~
smt88
If you're satisfied that you responsibly wrote code that was easy to pass off,
then you have nothing to feel guilty about. Leaving them in the lurch,
drastically increasing your fee -- anything is on the table.

Of course, there are pros and cons to any approach. You may make enemies if
you leave or boost the price too much. In my experience, having as many
friends as possible is a good thing.

