what position/industry, do you have to work out of some remote location thus the per diem
In many large industrial construction projects (think Chemical Plants, Nuclear Plants, Refineries, Power Plants, Pipelines, Terminal Stations) they hire a huge amount of contractors for temporary positions. If you’re not local to the area (they cannot typically find enough skilled local workforce’s) they nearly always pay a per diem. The downside to this, is that in the last 10 years I’ve probably moved 20+ times and lived in around 8-10 states. So it’s not for people who aren’t willing to take risks, move a lot, and be comfortable without job security knowing that at the end of projects they’ll likely be laid off.
I started in the industry about 10 years ago. After I left my first job 8 years ago, I have never worked at a project without per diem. My per diem for the last 8 years has ranged from $560/wk to $1100/wk, always tax free. Currently, I’m also given a tax free $500/mo trip home allowance.
On another good note, I was told today that I will also get paid holidays.
On an even better note, our project director (who manages all our project managers) reached out to two of my project managers this morning and out of nowhere, told them that he thought it was time they needed to increase my compensation. He is typically notorious for thinking that contractors get paid too much, and to lay them off as soon as the projects slow down. For him to reach out to my PM’s and request that, could not be a bigger compliment on top of everything else.