State of the Market

[uk contractor]

Correction levels for the global indices now so that alone will take most IT Contract roles away for a while!

[ladymuck]

I'm popular today!

First: had a call from a former colleague about a BA role. Giving the CV a spruce up to make it less generic. I suspect they will find stronger people than me but it's nice to be considered.

Second: had a call from an recruiter who found me on LinkedIn and thought I was a good match for a permie role he's got (he works for the hiring company, not an agency which is why I actually entertained talking to him). We had a chat last week, he spoke to the hiring manager, called me back just now and it seems he thinks I'm a good bet. He's an ex contractor so gets that I'm not wholly enamoured with a perm gig but I'm a never say never type person so will follow the thread and see where I end up.

Follow up

First: had a call from the programme manager with more details, they are very keen

Second: got a second interview lined up for Wednesday

Third: got a call back from an agent who posted something on LinkedIn and have been put forward for it

I am hoping egg #1 hatches, #2 will require me to move out of Kensington as the pay cut will be painful, #3 is ok as a back up to #1

[BrilloPad]

Follow up

First: had a call from the programme manager with more details, they are very keen

Second: got a second interview lined up for Wednesday

Third: got a call back from an agent who posted something on LinkedIn and have been put forward for it

I am hoping egg #1 hatches, #2 will require me to move out of Kensington as the pay cut will be painful, #3 is ok as a back up to #1

[Disguised Contractor]

I had to laugh, this morning - agency / ClientCo are actually now trying to engage me in a "race to the bottom" reverse Dutch auction.

Apparently, so this email reads, the client has been "studying the market for the last few weeks", and is reportedly asking both candidates to lower their rates, to the point where it is heavily implied (not definitively stated) that the client will take on the lowest bidder.

No tulip.

Are we really into the realm of "sealed bids", now?

Edit: I haven't replied back, being temporarily starved of a suitably professional response - any suggestions?

[GigiBronz]

I had to laugh, this morning - agency / ClientCo are actually now trying to engage me in a "race to the bottom" reverse Dutch auction.

Apparently, so this email reads, the client has been "studying the market for the last few weeks", and is reportedly asking both candidates to lower their rates, to the point where it is heavily implied (not definitively stated) that the client will take on the lowest bidder.

No tulip.

Are we really into the realm of "sealed bids", now?

Edit: I haven't replied back, being temporarily starved of a suitably professional response - any suggestions?

I’d put my rate up slightly and mention that the perceived risk of doing the contract has just increased. Agent getting greedy most likely and no scruples as usual. I’d make sure to have client details at hand/manager linkedin to tell them if you do loose the gig. If you’ve just initiated the conversation play along, make yourself the only option then negotiate back up with an offer on the table.

[eek]

I had to laugh, this morning - agency / ClientCo are actually now trying to engage me in a "race to the bottom" reverse Dutch auction.

Apparently, so this email reads, the client has been "studying the market for the last few weeks", and is reportedly asking both candidates to lower their rates, to the point where it is heavily implied (not definitively stated) that the client will take on the lowest bidder.

No tulip.

Are we really into the realm of "sealed bids", now?

Edit: I haven't replied back, being temporarily starved of a suitably professional response - any suggestions?

The professional response is:

I will be quite happy to resolve the forthcoming mess at my usual rates if things don't work out.

[simes]

I had to laugh, this morning - agency / ClientCo are actually now trying to engage me in a "race to the bottom" reverse Dutch auction.

Apparently, so this email reads, the client has been "studying the market for the last few weeks", and is reportedly asking both candidates to lower their rates, to the point where it is heavily implied (not definitively stated) that the client will take on the lowest bidder.

No tulip.

Are we really into the realm of "sealed bids", now?

Edit: I haven't replied back, being temporarily starved of a suitably professional response - any suggestions?

Wouldn't a reverse Dutch auction mean a normal auction? Highest bidder wins.

That aside, before getting into the negotiating, what are the IR35 implications? Has an SDS actually been performed? Only asking as this may define how hardball you want to play.

For my part, I would want to encourage SDS and Outside thinking, even if the rate is lower than that of an Inside and 'couldn't care less' attitude to the new world.

[BlasterBates]

I had to laugh, this morning - agency / ClientCo are actually now trying to engage me in a "race to the bottom" reverse Dutch auction.

Apparently, so this email reads, the client has been "studying the market for the last few weeks", and is reportedly asking both candidates to lower their rates, to the point where it is heavily implied (not definitively stated) that the client will take on the lowest bidder.

No tulip.

Are we really into the realm of "sealed bids", now?

Edit: I haven't replied back, being temporarily starved of a suitably professional response - any suggestions?

It's easy. If you have interviews lined up then you simply refuse because next week you'll have a new contract.

[PlanB]

Correction levels for the global indices now so that alone will take most IT Contract roles away for a while!

I was just thinking that, could this get any worse? We have IR35 changes killing the contracting market, continuing Brexit uncertainty and now coronavirus. If there are permie jobs to be had I would take one, you may luck out and get a contract or extension but then what?

This is going to be an extremely bad couple of years.

[Disguised Contractor]

It's easy. If you have interviews lined up then you simply refuse because next week you'll have a new contract.

Mmm - well, that's it, I don't have much in the way of interviews at the moment. The few I've had haven't panned out, because either they have had stronger candidates (high supply for all demand), and looking for stronger software dev skills. I'm just a humble cloud architect, eight years experience in AWS and Azure, integrating or migrating on-prem to cloud, either by VM to EC2, or redesign solution for Lambda/DynamoDB/ECS/EKS/Mesh/sprouts/stuffing/gravy. I'm relatively light in modern dev skills, and I'm getting annoyed that they are increasingly being included as mandatory skills, ostensibly simply as differentiators / filters for screening purposes.

Personally, I'm not that much in demand at the moment, most roles seems to need software dev skills at the moment, even for roles where software dev skills have never been historically needed and may never be used, and I've been benched for a while, much longer than I ever usually have, even when considering the time of year. Are we expecting more vacancies to open up soon?