State of the Market

[rocktronAMP]

Can you rent for while, just cut your cloth till things pickup. I've had to do that after divorce etc things will get better.

I watched a bit of BBC Breakfast (breaking my last advice), but this news is relevant.
£6,054 average mortgage arrears (Source: StepChange)

JFC! That is the state of the nation, 2024. So it is not just you. It is us. Lots of us owe money to whoever, wherever on whatever: houses, flats, cars, bikes, gas boiler installation / urgent renovations, kitchen and/or bath installation, flood rework and the rest of it.

As contractors, we used to slap £18K on a used nearly-new car without concern. (Circa 2013 / 2014 for me) We thought we were in the money, literally. Now it is scratching on PCP car schemes and monthly subscription for hybrid of electric. (We're missing the hope-and-a-pray emoticon)

[SchumiStars]

Just to add. I do absolutely need a job,.contract prr ******* something.

Just had a look to become an Uber driver and from what I can see, it looks like it will cost ~£1k to get a taxi license from tfl. Not sure if this a route I want to go down, although I am running out of options ATM.

[Fraidycat]

I am a highly experienced software developer who can code in Java, C#, EpiServer, SQL.

Just some feedback on what jumped out at me when looking at your linked in profie:

I am an experienced Java dev i have no idea what Epi server. Is there lots demand for this skill?

Your linked in profile also mentions this skill more than once.

I only mention this because your linked in profile comes over as very high level to me, i hope your CV is different.

As a java dev i would hope your CV has more detail about Java, things like, Multi threading, OOP design patterns etc, Spring/Hibernate/REST API development.

If you have any C/C++ programming i would mention this on my CV mention to give hirers a feeling that you can get your hands dirty with lower level languages as well.

[oliverson]

Just to add. I do absolutely need a job,.contract prr ******* something.

Just had a look to become an Uber driver and from what I can see, it looks like it will cost ~£1k to get a taxi license from tfl. Not sure if this a route I want to go down, although I am running out of options ATM.

Not a great choice if you do sell the car, as indicated in one of your previous posts.

I've been in your shoes, particularly in the financial crash as I too contracted in London (banking) so I know how it feels (evictions, car repossessions, hours away from home repossessions, ruined credit file, £ 1.20 in my bank account on Christmas Day, etc, etc), but forget about any medication, etc., you don't need it, you just need a break.

I learned a lot from that period, so when it happened again Covid/Brexit/IR35, I was better prepared, so much so that I rode out a 17 month period on the bench, which is a lot longer than the aforementioned bench period. I wasn't over committed on outgoings and I survived by borrowing money as my credit file had been 'repaired', i.e. the defaults had all dropped off after 6 years. I was talking to insolvency practitioners and it got quite close but at the 11th hour, out of the blue, somebody pinged me on LinkedIn. 3 years down the line, things look mighty different thank the lord.

My advice to you would be, and it probably doesn't seem like it right now, BELIEVE things will turn around. If you can take on additional borrowing to survive, DO IT. You know that when you're back in contract, the money is good and whilst recovery and repair does take time, at least the wolves are kept from the door. As others have speculated, I do now believe that when these two elections are out of the way and interest rates start to fall, the market will pick back up again. Why wouldn't it? Perhaps not as lucrative as it once was due to IR35, but perhaps that goes away with Labour's proposed 'Worker' status, which to me sounds like inside IR35 but with employee benefits. I've got a mate on an inside gig at a London bank, on something like £ 850 a day. He's going to be mighty pleased if he gets sick/holiday pay and a pension as well.

Have faith, things turn around, they always do, from one dev to another! I'm living proof and today I just signed another 12 month extension. So my 'recovery' from 17 months on the bench goes on!!

[Fraidycat]

If you can take on additional borrowing to survive, DO IT. You know that when you're back in contract, the money is good and whilst recovery and repair does take time, at least the wolves are kept from the door.

I would agree with this, its taboo because its debt but i dont see a problem as long as you aren't already up to your eyeballs in debt.

As well as my war chest i also make sure i have access to lots of easy credit.

SchumiStars may have ruined his credit score already if he misses a mortgage payment, which will make it harder to get a loan. Although I think he still has 30 days to pay it before it effects his credit file. Currently i can get an unsecured 30K loan from my bank within minutes by self certing that i have the ability to pay it off, even when between contracts, but if i have a recent hole in my credit record i doubt the process will be so easy.

[SchumiStars]

Have to also remember software development has changed massively in the last 5yrs.

The old, cryptic systems that no-one knew much about seem to be less in existence now. Everything is written with SOLID principles which means that there is less maitanance, support and bug fixing.

In general, whereby there used to be support contracts for older systems to keep them running, there seems to much less of them. Development work seems to more focused on new projects, new integrations, new code.

Then there are the cloud systems which have replaced onprem applications. For instance, why would anyone write their own POS system now? And integration between for instance SAGE into Excel have all been concluded.

A very similar analogy is the death of CRT monitors and TVs. An industry were diagnosing and fixing screens seems to have long disappeared as the availability and cost benefit favours.

I do believe that diagnosing and bug fixing, especially for older systems, seem to be dying. Which is one aspect I used to enjoy TBH. And with coding becoming easier with app developers, believing they are now fully fledged software developers having spent no time reading about LIFO, I can see the industry now diminishing.

I.e Why would a company need a full software dev on £500pd who can develop, diagnose and build software when all I need is 2 app developers to build new software for £600pd for both.

Have to remember that software projects are also better managed now with agile, scrum and iterative design, build and release. Rarely are requirements incorrect and large tasks such as before 'Build screen for database table x' are now broken down into the nth degree and managed through to delivery.

Yes the quality has improved of the product but it has also taken away the creativity from a developer. Meaning we are not solving massive technical design issues, another aspect i miss.

[Fraidycat]

Have to also remember software development has changed massively in the last 5yrs.

People say things have changed recently, due to private sector IR35, remote work and other reasons like you mention.

But 2021 and first half 2022 was one of the best periods to be a contractor, the market was booming. And all those things were true during that period. So i'm not buying it just yet.

I think we are seeing a fall in demand because companies are belt tightening across the board because they having to pay more interest on their debt.

[oliverson]

Have to also remember software development has changed massively in the last 5yrs.

The old, cryptic systems that no-one knew much about seem to be less in existence now. Everything is written with SOLID principles which means that there is less maitanance, support and bug fixing.

In general, whereby there used to be support contracts for older systems to keep them running, there seems to much less of them. Development work seems to more focused on new projects, new integrations, new code.

Then there are the cloud systems which have replaced onprem applications. For instance, why would anyone write their own POS system now? And integration between for instance SAGE into Excel have all been concluded.

A very similar analogy is the death of CRT monitors and TVs. An industry were diagnosing and fixing screens seems to have long disappeared as the availability and cost benefit favours.

I do believe that diagnosing and bug fixing, especially for older systems, seem to be dying. Which is one aspect I used to enjoy TBH. And with coding becoming easier with app developers, believing they are now fully fledged software developers having spent no time reading about LIFO, I can see the industry now diminishing.

I.e Why would a company need a full software dev on £500pd who can develop, diagnose and build software when all I need is 2 app developers to build new software for £600pd for both.

Have to remember that software projects are also better managed now with agile, scrum and iterative design, build and release. Rarely are requirements incorrect and large tasks such as before 'Build screen for database table x' are now broken down into the nth degree and managed through to delivery.

Yes the quality has improved of the product but it has also taken away the creativity from a developer. Meaning we are not solving massive technical design issues, another aspect i miss.

More like 'rarely are there any requirements'! Having practiced this agile nonsense since 2008 I can honestly say it's a piece of tulip, but let's not go there as I don't want this thread to descend into a war with all the agile nerds!

In this game (software dev) you have to keep reinventing yourself, especially as a contractor. I specialised in WPF for a few years until it fell out of favour and the market dried up, so I went back to .NET (core was coming out) and learned Angular 2+ on the job. Then Node.js and React, which I never really liked. Now I'm on microservices, k8s, AWS/Azure, DevOps, IaC, PaaS, etc., which should hopefully be enough to see out my contracting days.

[funkyContractorITUK]

so on linkedin I get this direct message...

We are currently working with a top tier government body through a digital consultancy on a large scale applications programme.

They are looking to bring on a Node.JS Developer with Azure experience to join the programme on a remote and Outside IR35 basis.

So the recruiter calls me....I tell them my situation and explain that I prefer outside to inside....then the insult happens.....they ask if I'm willing to take £270 per day ..... I nearly fell off my chair. I told them I was getting 2.5 times more on an inside which still works out more than £200 more a day than that after taxes..... I asked if I knew anyone who would accept this insult rate. I told her no because the developers I work with are better than that.

I went on to explain that £270 wouldn't go very far once you take CT, insurance, policies, software/kit, etc.

What upset me most was the recruiter was actually laughing while talking about the rate. If I wasn't so professional I would have just put the phone down on them....


When will this madness end.

[codedbypaul]

I was benched for seven months and finally got something back in February. Naturally, four months later, I received a jury citation. :fume