State of the Market

[SussexSeagull]

3 years on the bench, just take anything surely that has to be better than nothing.

Have you done any work SchumiStars at all?

Yodel deliveries,shelf stacking anything to not run down savings.

Getting such work isn't as easy as it was. Your local Tesco is going to employ an 18 year old to stack shelves ahead of a 50 something with dodgy knees who will leave when something better appears.

[sadkingbilly]

what's a Primark??

[sadkingbilly]

Agree malvolio, and they have more experienced people and Reform don't.

Farage will be the next PM; hopefully he has time to get some experienced operators to support him who have real life experience and some nous.

[SussexSeagull]

The thing that no one wants to consider is that no government of any persuasion can sort this out as places like India and Chins have risen and taken their piece of the pie.

Plus for the last few hundred years this countries prosperity was built on international alliances. Up until World War 2 it was the British Empire and more recently the EU. We haven't got that anymore.

[fatJock]

I was out for 17 months over covid then back in the game for 3.5 years. I don't think it's anything to do with 'me, my skills', just for most people, getting noticed in a world where there are hundreds of applicants, suitable or not, for every role within hours, and AI vetting CV's and auto-rejecting them based on some algorithm. Then there's ageism. I've only had two or three face-to-face (zoom) interviews in almost 6 years now but even so, when that zoom session starts and there's a bunch of 30 year old kids on my screen, looking at me almost double their age, certainly a similar age to their father, I have to ask myself.."would I want to work with my own father?!". So, whilst I can't even get a sniff of an interview at the moment, even if I were, well, you get the picture.

As for the market I operate, yes that's changed. The old world was London banking/finance but that was a while back now, in fact its over 10 years since I left my last such contract at a very well known asset management firm, and the chances of cracking that market again are miniscule. Out of the 'magic circle' way too long. I do have a good contracting friend who's gone back to a bank he previously had a couple of stints at. His rate is north of £ 800 inside. Now something like that would be worth considering, but for me not so, not that I could get back in there mind. Nah, personal circumstances, age, life, etc. means that ship has sailed. Away from that sector I'm seeing inside day rates lucky to get over half that mark, as I've posted recently.

I was out for a month during Covid so you being out for 17 is definitely a you and your skills problem - namely that they weren't in demand for that period.

I'm 52 so suspect ageism will kick in at some point but I'd day that 80% of my work in the last eight years has come from my wider network of people I have worked with / for in the past so perhaps this is a bit less relevant.

Back to rates again - 50% of £0 is £0 - my point is, if you need an income something is better than nothing. Sitting on the sidelines moaning that the glory days are gone won't pay the bills.

[Snooky]

Just watched an interview with a senior Indian minister in Mumbai talking about the UK as our PM is currently there and how the highest number of those leaving are now in the UK, how wonderful it is for Indians lifting themselves out of poverty and now middle class in the UK was his line.

Back patting and how great it is for India; yeah mate but the flip side is it is not good for the UK we are going down the tubes due to cheap labour being imported.

New Visas are not part of the discussions, according to Starmer
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9wdzryk477o

My local Primark is a prime example it is 99% staffed by Indians. It is very noticeable no getting away from it.

Indians who have come over on work visas or British-born brown people? How do you know, did you ask them?

[sadkingbilly]

I was out for a month during Covid so you being out for 17 is definitely a you and your skills problem - namely that they weren't in demand for that period.

I'm 52 so suspect ageism will kick in at some point but I'd day that 80% of my work in the last eight years has come from my wider network of people I have worked with / for in the past so perhaps this is a bit less relevant.

Back to rates again - 50% of £0 is £0 - my point is, if you need an income something is better than nothing. Sitting on the sidelines moaning that the glory days are gone won't pay the bills.

being an arrogant, entitled twat who thinks they're too good to work below £x/day probably doesn't help either.
like you say, anything's better than heehaw.

[Manic]

Getting such work isn't as easy as it was. Your local Tesco is going to employ an 18 year old to stack shelves ahead of a 50 something with dodgy knees who will leave when something better appears.

There are other reasons too.

Part timers earning less than 5k per annum don't attract NI rates.
Minimum wage for under 18 is lower than 21+

It's why most retail stores employ loads and loads of poorly paid under 21s on zero hour contracts.

[oliverson]

I was out for a month during Covid so you being out for 17 is definitely a you and your skills problem - namely that they weren't in demand for that period.

I'm 52 so suspect ageism will kick in at some point but I'd day that 80% of my work in the last eight years has come from my wider network of people I have worked with / for in the past so perhaps this is a bit less relevant.

Back to rates again - 50% of £0 is £0 - my point is, if you need an income something is better than nothing. Sitting on the sidelines moaning that the glory days are gone won't pay the bills.

Not the case, I came hot off a contract writing microservices in node.js and serverless functions, both on AWS. Very in demand skills. I did decide to take a year off and do some travelling between lockdowns. There was virtually nothing on the likes of JobServe back then for a few months at the start. It was laughable. Makes this downturn look like a bonanza. I figured no work out there, IR35 uncertainty still (hadn't been kicked back a year at that point) and having worked solid for years on end. Time to take a break.

[ladymuck]

I've never had more than a couple of months bench time. I find it interesting that people don't seem to do much network building in order to use that to source work. I also have repeat clients who I'll do a stint with, leave and go back to a couple of years later. I have friends at one major client who tell me what's going on and, if I'm coming available, I'll drop certain people a 'remember me?' email to see if there's anything I can help with.

During Covid, I moved from working at a major airport to a pharmaceutical adjacent client the week of the first lockdowns and remained in work throughout. Luck? Maybe, but I had lined up the move in the 4-6 weeks before it all kicked off, not knowing what was around the corner. Both gigs came via my network.

I am no genius and I'm not even sure I pass muster as competent some days. We all know I've spent two decades working on a one-line macro. So if I can still be trading after 20 years, why can't you?