State of the Market

[sreed]

There is 1:1 correlation between UK GDP and contractor market

Market was humming along nicely between 2010 and 2020.

Then another boom off the covid lows:

Then flatline as soon as the BOE starts to raise rates in December 2021..

This chart is a year old, but the flat line continues on for another year after:

There’s definitely a correlation between the domestic economy and the general job market, no doubt. Not just in the UK, but everywhere.

What I meant is that these tiny movements in GDP are fairly immaterial and that there is a more severe job recession in the white collar market.

[Fraidycat]

Just curious, what did these kind of roles use to pay, say 10 years ago?

£150 FTC was approximately the lowest i saw one benched contractor taking in the slump of 2003. And that was thought to be very low at the time.

[avonleigh]

£150 FTC was approximately the lowest I saw one benched contractor taking in the slump of 2003. And that was thought to be very low at the time.

2003 was a bad period for testers. I did a role for £192 per day. It was very low and people laughed at the time. But I had no warchest so did it for 9 months or so. It turned out to be a good decision as it kept me going through that bad spell. While I heard of several people having to sell their houses.

[Fraidycat]

Some good news, inflation in the US came in a little bit better than expected today. Rate cut now expected in the US in September. And in August by the BOE.

[BigDataPro]

Finally got an outside role nearly after 6-7 months on the bench. Although LI & JS are dead, this one came through LI. I think this could be an indication that market is slowly recovering.

[oliverson]

Finally got an outside role nearly after 6-7 months on the bench. Although LI & JS are dead, this one came through LI. I think this could be an indication that market is slowly recovering.

Congratulations. I know only too well what lengthy spells on the bench can do to you!

[SussexSeagull]

2003 was a bad period for testers. I did a role for £192 per day. It was very low and people laughed at the time. But I had no warchest so did it for 9 months or so. It turned out to be a good decision as it kept me going through that bad spell. While I heard of several people having to sell their houses.

I was still permanent at the time but I think there was something of a backlash after the Millennium Bug proved to be something of a damp squib.

[SussexSeagull]

£150 FTC was approximately the lowest i saw one benched contractor taking in the slump of 2003. And that was thought to be very low at the time.

I bottomed out at £150 a day outside IR35 round about the time of the financial crash. Only contract I have ever served notice on as there was a very real threat of me asking the Test Manager to join me in the car park.

Oddly my rates as a Tester have been as good as ever over the last 12 months, although I have been out for a week now and it is very quiet.

[sreed]

Finally got an outside role nearly after 6-7 months on the bench. Although LI & JS are dead, this one came through LI. I think this could be an indication that market is slowly recovering.

Congrats, very happy for you.

If you don’t mind me asking, over the 6 month period that you were looking for a new contract, did you have particular requirements (eg: outside only, specific profile, etc.) re the contracts you would consider or were you fairly flexible?

[BigDataPro]

Congrats, very happy for you.

If you don’t mind me asking, over the 6 month period that you were looking for a new contract, did you have particular requirements (eg: outside only, specific profile, etc.) re the contracts you would consider or were you fairly flexible?

Not at all. Over the period of 6 months I was open to all sorts including perm roles, low salary, inside roles, part-time jobs etc. Primarily because I had a long gap in 2023 as well. I was surviving with my savings and I still can do for the next couple of years as well. However, this gap pushed me to a point where I was feeling low, desperate, useless, confidence dropped to negative and so on. Therefore, I was 100% flexible and had no demand whatsoever. In fact, I would have taken up shelf racking job had super markets offered it.