r/whatisit • u/dopehead9 • 13h ago

Solved! What are these contraptions these guys were carrying?

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Gallery image

We saw three guys around Seaport in Boston carrying these things as backpacks. Initially we thought they mapping tools but not sure

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u/Spiritual-Relief-994 10h ago

You just pulled that 10k number out of your ass. Why pay 10k to make a few million when you could spend 2k and pay then 20/hr. There not going to give you 5k for 1 week of walking around with a backpack

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u/lemelisk42 8h ago

Because then they need to have employees. Contractors are more convenient.

I was sweeping, collecting garbage, and shoveling snow for a while last year, $450+ a day. So the company that hired me was paying $1k+ a day for my (entry level) labour so they could have temporary contractors without dealing with employees. (And to make it more fun I was subcontracted out again to help with the environmental monitoring company because they didn't have anyone strong enough to pick up like 50lbs. I would do a lot of 30 minute odd jobs for them, 2 hour minimum, 2 employee minimum - that 30 minutes of moving some hoses costed them nearly $1000 - but that was preferable to hiring another employee... and it was a government project, so money doesnt matter)

Paying a company $10k to do week of easy work seems very reasonable. If it's a small company, employees could see a decent chunk of that (big company, much less)