State of the Market

[edison]

In that case it would be nice to know which area you specialise in - Not trying to steal your job just trying to get a better sense of where the market is going

As others have pointed out 25K perm and 350 per day inside is hardly amazing is it and if consultancies have loads of people on the bench it does make you wonder where the good news comes from

O365. Cloud. Home working.


All migrations to get there.

This. Plus security.

IMHO there isn't a thing called 'the market'... there are sector/regional/skillset variances that make that too general a term to be of too much use for me. It's true that overall, things are in a poor state but there are a few sectors holding up better like life sciences/healthcare, supply chain and logistics and some of the better online retailers. Plus some parts of the public sector have been doing ok but rates there tend to be significantly lower anyway. Conversely, some sectors are obviously struggling badly like travel, hospitality and legacy retailers.

If your experience is concentrated in a particular sector that has been badly affected then it is likely to continue being tough. I used to work in the travel industry and a lot of my ex-colleagues are being made redundant at the moment, many have never worked outside the sector.

[CheeseSlice]

Market is the same for people working with Gov or public sector for sure. I've seen even more contract for public sector during the last 8 months. So much that most of the decent contract in my field are in public sector.

Of course when you got a money printing machine there is no slow down...

Even if the public sector hasn't dropped off in terms of contracts advertised, the numbers of people applying for those contracts will be off the scale. Its not a closed shop.

Those with the elusive SC or DV clearances may not notice too much new competition though.

[CheeseSlice]

This. Plus security.

IMHO there isn't a thing called 'the market'... there are sector/regional/skillset variances that make that too general a term to be of too much use for me. It's true that overall, things are in a poor state but there are a few sectors holding up better like life sciences/healthcare, supply chain and logistics and some of the better online retailers. Plus some parts of the public sector have been doing ok but rates there tend to be significantly lower anyway. Conversely, some sectors are obviously struggling badly like travel, hospitality and legacy retailers.

If your experience is concentrated in a particular sector that has been badly affected then it is likely to continue being tough. I used to work in the travel industry and a lot of my ex-colleagues are being made redundant at the moment, many have never worked outside the sector.

The regional factor is slowly becoming irrelevant in the IT industry. Sure there is still resistance amongst many clientco's, but over the last 6 months others are definitely seeing the light and embracing full remote work and the larger talent pool it has to offer. I'm tapping into regional markets all over the UK now, so watch out, I'm coming to steal your jobs

[jayn200]

This. Plus security.

IMHO there isn't a thing called 'the market'... there are sector/regional/skillset variances that make that too general a term to be of too much use for me. It's true that overall, things are in a poor state but there are a few sectors holding up better like life sciences/healthcare, supply chain and logistics and some of the better online retailers. Plus some parts of the public sector have been doing ok but rates there tend to be significantly lower anyway. Conversely, some sectors are obviously struggling badly like travel, hospitality and legacy retailers.

If your experience is concentrated in a particular sector that has been badly affected then it is likely to continue being tough. I used to work in the travel industry and a lot of my ex-colleagues are being made redundant at the moment, many have never worked outside the sector.

Sure there is a larger market. Just wait till your potential clients realise they can get someone with twice as many skills for half the price who previously worked in a different sector... People are going to start applying for everything (probably already have been for months?) and unless you're in a regulated sector (which it doesnt sound like you are) then your sector wont stay safe for long.

[founder]

I just applied for my first permanent draw in like a year. Client says not sure about hiring an ex-contractor.

wth

By the way why don't we set up a Discord server for us contractors?

[jayn200]

I just applied for my first permanent draw in like a year. Client says not sure about hiring an ex-contractor.

wth

By the way why don't we set up a Discord server for us contractors?

I probably wouldn't hire a contractor into a perm gig either.

Its your job to convince them it's a permanent move and you'll never contract again. Make sure to convey that the move is permanent and you are 100% sure. You will never even look at another contract ad again. You are closing down your company and taking ER. You are only applying to and interviewing for perm jobs. Helps if you can anchor a life event like getting married, having kids, or even buying a house. If you're older you can anchor it to your retirement, talk about how your an expert and you would like to settle down and really build something long term at an organisation.

Of course you don't always get an opportunity to say those things to client.

[edison]

The regional factor is slowly becoming irrelevant in the IT industry. Sure there is still resistance amongst many clientco's, but over the last 6 months others are definitely seeing the light and embracing full remote work and the larger talent pool it has to offer. I'm tapping into regional markets all over the UK now, so watch out, I'm coming to steal your jobs

Fair point although I think it's still a bit too early to understand the full impact of what is happening at a regional level.

Sure there is a larger market. Just wait till your potential clients realise they can get someone with twice as many skills for half the price who previously worked in a different sector... People are going to start applying for everything (probably already have been for months?) and unless you're in a regulated sector (which it doesnt sound like you are) then your sector wont stay safe for long.

Luckily for me I have worked in many different sectors including highly regulated ones like banking and pharmaceuticals and I'm also not a developer... my role will probably be the last to ever be outsourced or offshored but there is a lot more local competition for sure at the moment.

[jayn200]

Fair point although I think it's still a bit too early to understand the full impact of what is happening at a regional level.




Luckily for me I have worked in many different sectors including highly regulated ones like banking and pharmaceuticals and I'm also not a developer... my role will probably be the last to ever be outsourced or offshored but there is a lot more local competition for sure at the moment.

I'm not a developer either but have been previously.

I'm not at all concerned with offshore labour... It's the local market that's concerning. So many highly skilled unemployed people right now.

[CheeseSlice]

As this thread heads towards 1M views, it proves the saying that "misery loves company".

For anyone struggling to find a contract, or in a dark place mentally, it's fair to say this thread will be of no use whatsoever.

The added burden of COVID isolation will no doubt intensify the sense of fear and worry for those individuals prone to anxiety anyway. And for anyone desperate to find work in isolation without a support network, this is undoubtedly a bad time.

IMO the market is the same as it ever was. Arguably even a boom time for those earning good rates with no travelling expenses.

The market has not collapsed. Demand for quality contractors is still high.

Microsoft contracts, contractor rates and trends for Microsoft skills | IT Jobs Watch
Jobs citing 'Microsoft', (advert count, percentage of all jobs) posted during 3 months to 12th October:
2020: 2,163, 11.95%
2019: 5,595, 13.57%
2018: 6,307, 12.02%

Java contracts, contractor rates and trends for Java skills | IT Jobs Watch
Jobs citing 'Java' (count, percentage of all jobs) posted during 3 months to 12th October:
2020: 2,332, 12.89%
2019: 4,347, 10.54%
2018: 7,585, 14.46%

ALL Programming Languages:
2020: 7,512, 41.51%
2019: 16,839, 40.83%
2018: 23,515, 44.83%

[vwdan]

I genuinely can't believe there are people here naively thinking the world is chugging on as normal. I literally specialise in remote working - and, as you'd expect, I was *stacked* at the start of the pandemic. 12 - 18 hour days, going in on behalf of vendors, biiiiiiiig projects. And then it died. I had zilch for nearly two months - not little bits, not leads, just *nothing*. I've had a few ad-hoc projects over the last few weeks, but I'm rapidly coming to nothing again.

Congratulations to those who are in, or have found contracts. And I'm very happy for anybody whose sector/specialism somehow hasn't seen a drop - but the idea that "the market" or the contractor market, or even the job market overall hasn't been decimated is ludicrous.

And if you still don't believe me, have a graph:

UK Job Vacancies (thousands) - Total Services - Office for National Statistics