[analyte123]

The thing that “doesn’t work” about converting an existing full-time employee to a contractor, and why there wouldn’t be a process for doing so, is that it can make it look like the company is trying to dodge taxes associated with employing someone by “misclassifying” them as a contractor [1], or otherwise skirt around laws associated with employment - even laws considering layoffs: he might trust you individually but if you convert 20 employees to contractors then let them go later probably there’s going to be at least one who says that the contractor conversion was just a ploy to lay people off without notice or severance.

If you really think the market is saying you can make $150 freelancing, you can do what your manager is suggesting (which is actually pretty gracious, not sweating you about freelancing elsewhere affecting your work there), eventually quit the job and see if they’d hire you back as a freelancer in a few months.

[1] https://remote.com/blog/employee-to-contractor-risks#what-ar...