A consultant can work on their time. They do not have to commute. Once they finish a task, they can move on to the next task which may be in a different field. This offers a lot of change and keeps the engineer from getting "bored". They are not the first laid off mainly because they are under contractual agreement and unless they violate their contract they must be paid as long as they keep deadlines. These are just some pros to being a consultant in the US.