Comcast

Overall, a pleasant work environment with creative employees and interesting work. The company is in a very nice locale and offers free snacks, catered lunches two days per week, a free gym membership, regular hackathons, and a Fun committee.

Full-time employees receive some form of profit-sharing (bonus or stock) quarterly. They also get access to holiday parties, picnics, and all-hands meetings with company leadership.

There is a two-tier workforce, with full-time employees (FTEs) getting better treatment, naturally. Contractors get access to some of the same benefits but have zero job security and are treated more or less as expendables.

Some contractors are converted to full-time, but that seems less likely for older workers. There seems to be an increasing reliance on contractors, especially on Tata engineers.

During one all-hands meeting I was able to attend, the top exec mentioned that the company aimed to consolidate their list of vendors of contract services and move away from mom-and-pop shops. One of my managers mentioned the company would negotiate with large consulting services like Tata to staff entire projects.

Such actions lead to a more homogeneous workplace, not the diversity that Silicon Valley claims.

If you are going to depend on contractors, treat them as well as full-time employees because they are just as responsible for results.