State of the Market

[sal]

Still booming in the arse end of the world

FTFY

[CoolCat]

Seems to be very bad market at the moment.

All those intra company transfer visas coming home to roost.

[stek]

Seems to be very bad market at the moment.

All those intra company transfer visas coming home to roost.

[uk contractor]

Seems to be very bad market at the moment.

All those intra company transfer visas coming home to roost.

I also have to wonder how many firms waited 28 days like they are supposed to before recruiting outside UK................. !!

[stek]

Seems to be very bad market at the moment.

All those intra company transfer visas coming home to roost.

Maybe you should upskill your game and stop trying to compete with bottom-feeders...

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Maybe you should upskill your game and stop trying to compete with bottom-feeders...

I take it by that you mean moving into area that demands more soft skills - BA, PM etc because from a technical perspective, I don't see any way of upskilling to something that's in an arena that isn't already saturated by cheap competition from overseas.

[stek]

I take it by that you mean moving into area that demands more soft skills - BA, PM etc because from a technical perspective, I don't see any way of upskilling to something that's in an arena that isn't already saturated by cheap competition from overseas.

Yeah and not only that, any area needing a level of controlled input. I'm thinking for me Architect, done it before didn't really like it but doing it now albeit a bit hands on, getting sick of vi'ing and automating and writing firewall rules...

[dwater]

Have you seen this new entry? Tech Talent: Map of the UK's digital clusters - BBC News

IMHO the article is happier reading for permanent job seekers and start ups.

I'm particularly curious about the "tech jobs there are per head of the local population" bit - does it matter how many people? I presume they are using such a stat because they can't find out how many geeks there are in said places. I mean, that's what *I* would want to know. It's all very well there being lots of jobs, but if there are proportionally more people applying for them, then it's not worthwhile staying there, compared to somewhere else where the ratio is lower (or is it higher).

Is the number of people applying for jobs proportional to the population in general?

[SussexSeagull]

I also have to wonder how many firms waited 28 days like they are supposed to before recruiting outside UK................. !!

I am sure the Government will reduce immigration just about the same time they change the tax system so contracting isn't worth it anymore!

[tonygyles]

The Job Market is Dire and here is why ...

1. There is a glut of IT contractors in the UK. This pushes down wages so all roles are paying significantly less than 10 years ago.
2. Offshoring has sent 25,000+ IT jobs away from the UK. These are gone maybe forever.
3. Large global IT consultancy firms are filling vast numbers of UK places with foreign workers. The simple reason they do this is profit. If they hire a UK resource they are losing money.

Fifteen years ago I remember having 3 interviews and 3 job offers in 1 week, having been looking for a job for 1 week. This was with little effort job hunting. Now I have trouble getting 1 interview in 2 months.

Any contractors who are in jobs and acting smug because they believe they are fantastic will have a very hard fall when they exit their current roles. I also know several friends and ex-colleagues of mine are job hunting and finding it hard, more so than any time in my working career.