Second class employee does not, in any way, imply less than human. If there are FTE and Contractors, and you have to lay people off, the Contractors come first. The commitments you've made to each are different. That doesn't mean they are less human, or that you don't feel bad that you need to let them go. But sometimes, you have to let people go, and you have to choose which people.
I've worked on contract before. Just shake my hand and tell me you don't need more right now. Don't feel bad, you've been paying me to offer that option without drama. You won't scale up enough if you're afraid to scale back down.
Your comment that I was replying to did not say "less than human." You said "less human."
Being treated as "extra disposable and second class" is being treated as less human than a FTE. It's up in the air whether that also means they were being treated as "less than human."
I just don't understand this argument. As a contractor, you are hired with the understanding that, if someone needs to be let go, it is you before the FTEs. In general, you're paid more as contractor than as an FTE, and that's one of the reasons.
There is nothing about that that implies you're not treated with dignity.
Yes it's not intrinsic to the relationship per se but in the implementation.
Contractors are treated with less dignity than they deserve on a number of fronts
As a contractor and even as an employee I've been treated with less dignity than I deserve especially when being let go on a moment's notice and treated like a plague carrier the minute I'm terminated
