be warned: the government does not like it if you are an employee and then go directly into contracting for said same company.

you become an "employee under guise" and then you will be taxed as such. then you get the worst of both worlds.

Which government?

I assume he means U.K. (IR35 ruling) although there may be equivalents elsewhere in the world

In the UK you need to be careful transitioning from permanent to contract for the same company without a gap as it could be an IR35 risk (assuming you want to operate as a Limited Company at least). Not saying it’s not possible but you’d need to be careful and explicit that the contract isn’t just a direct extension of your permanent work.