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I was offered a contract with a company. We decided on the compensation, starting date, cleared some doubts regarding the contract and I signed and sent back the contract. The problem starts with the team I will be working in. I will be starting remotely in a week now. Still I have not got any information from them: about my IT equipment, software etc.

I am in constant contact with the HR who is also trying to make futile attempts of reaching them. The job position is still listed in their website. What should I make of this?

P.S. I still have other offers from other companies if I walk away from this mess.

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  • Is your manager also part of the team and can they also not be reached? Also, what's your location and your employer's location? These things often make a difference.
    – Erik
    Commented Mar 9, 2021 at 9:21
  • The engineering team including my manager is part of the team. And I cannot reach any of them. We are located in the same country but in two different cities.
    – Nil
    Commented Mar 9, 2021 at 9:26
  • Are you getting paid?
    – Gregory Currie
    Commented Mar 9, 2021 at 9:36
  • Yes. This is a full time position.
    – Nil
    Commented Mar 9, 2021 at 9:38
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    Oh, I just saw that you're starting in a week. Really nothing to be concerned about. Unless told otherwise, let HR deal with this.
    – Gregory Currie
    Commented Mar 9, 2021 at 9:43

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I am in constant contact with the HR who is also trying to make futile attempts of reaching them. The job position is still listed in their website. What should I make of this?

Your inability to contact them is disconcerting but since you're in communication with HR I'd let them deal with it.

Beyond that... in all likelihood, only one person on the team - the manager - will be answer your questions about equipment, software, etc. If he's out on vacation or otherwise sick then I wouldn't expect other employees to jump in. Like maybe the manager is the only person on the team with a credit card and he needs to use it to purchase the equipment for you. Sure, other employees on the team could tell you that, but they might see that as them stepping out of line.

Worst case: you're unable to commence work on your start date and then you get fired for cause. If the United States there are two types of employment - W-2 employees and 1099-NEC employees. The latter are often called contractors. If you're a 1099-NEC employee then there's really nothing you can do. If you're a W-2 employee your options, at that point, would be: you could file for unemployment and / or sue for wrongful termination.

With regard to your having other offers... pursuing those is totally your call. I guess if I were in your position I'd punt on those other offers, asking if I could give them my final answer a week from now and I'd then just bide my time and wait and see what happens with the company that I have the contract with. Unless one of those other offers is for better pay and for a position that you think you'd be genuinely more happy with?

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    I do have an unsettling gut feeling about the team. Hence I am buying my time to give a final answer to the other company. I will call up my HR again tomorrow and speak strongly about my feelings, possibly to rescind the contract.
    – Nil
    Commented Mar 9, 2021 at 16:10
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Until you are a working employee some companies do not start onboarding. Both so you don't do unpaid work and because until an employee shows up or starts work on their start date there is no guarantee they will.

Not that out of the ordinary in my experience.

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  • "until an employee shows up or starts work on their start date there is no guarantee they will". It's a remote position so there's no "showing up" that's really possible. Also, the company may have policies against doing work stuff on personal computers. Sure, it's possible that the company is still located in the same city despite being remote and that the OP will ultimately just need to pick equipment up on his start date but he ought to know that in advance.
    – neubert
    Commented Mar 9, 2021 at 13:34
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Good answers already, my addition is that some companies have policies, protocols and infrastructure in place that buffer staff from contact. Particularly high security conscious companies, but it can be arbitrary.

Some of the teams I have worked with are 100% non contactable except through a very high level internal channel. With good reason for most, but for no reason I can think of with a couple.

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