Agreed, I also think fans of Paradox games are doing the games a disservice by encouraging people to watch long youtube tutorials before they start instead of just jumping in and experiencing the mechanics. The important ones will become obvious after some time.
My Swedish perspective is that contractors are generally treated like an employee that doesn't get invited to company parties. I guess it's different at bigger companies like Spotify.
I've never heard of this despite living in Sweden for over 30 years