Soldato
Same here. I have always seen the need for the use of contractors in the various companies I have worked in but its always puzzled me why the rates are so high. When I have asked, I've always been told that's the market rate for somebody with those skills. Which is may be but all that says to me is that all these employers underpay their own permanent staff with the same skills.
I'm not trying to justify what some companies pay because I don't know what other companies pay, so I can only talk from my experience. The company I contract for worked out the rolled up cost of employing a permanent member of staff so they can cost up projects for tendering etc.
The rolled up cost per hour for a permanent member of staff was not that far off to a contractor despite the headline figures which most people seem fixated on. Obviously things will change from company to company depending on their policy.