Like title says, I was offered a job by a company I have worked along side on occasions. I am a contractor in specific feild that I specialize in, its highly skilled labor and there are few people that can do what I specialize in.

I got a call out of the blue, they were really excited to meet with me so we setup a meeting. Everything went well. So we finish up touring the facility and meeting everyone and the owner says alright lets talk brass tax and we enter his office. He starts out telling me the pay rate (26 and change/hr for any and all work). Typically I make a day rate of 450 with OT after 10 hours, 35/hr for shop work with ot after 40 hours and 40/hr for setup/teardown.

I told him my current rates and things went a little sour, he said he would get back to me.

The next day, he calls again and says he can do 30/hr 10hr min for production days with ot after 10 hours and 30 for shop rates with 4 hour minimum, ot after 40 hours and doesn't mention set/strike time (I assume 30).

He also wants me to be a w2 employee. I said I can only do 1099 because I own my company.

Idk if I should even hang around at all, but they have a lot of my specific work.

Any thoughts on this? Should I just bail? Ive committed to some work already and he says he will renegotiate with me after that work is done but IDK. If he is paying everyone so low, he doesn't have much incentive to give me a higher rate later imho.