State of the Market

[SueEllen]

I would personally work anywhere they have electricity but I do know people who only contract locally who seem to be doing ok at the moment.

Problem is agents when they have 100s of CVs they are going to lean towards those local to the client.

Nope - I learnt years ago not to put locations on my CV.

[uk contractor]

the outsourcing companies are charging more than uk ltd contractors --> FACT

I back you up it is a fact but also the other issues is some financial services clients see employing an outsourcer as an easy risk averse option as suddenly no pesky compliance questions to answer as well as removing any need for the hiring manager to take any responsibility for his outsourced team members! One very well known bank I worked at could not get enough staff with very basic English language skills from India @ £100 a day for SAP, BA & BI roles yet the outsourcer was still charging £500 a day!

[ShandyDrinker]

I live between 2 major cities, and have never had to travel for contracts.

I'm glad of that though with a young family.

If I struggle to find anything in those areas, it will be tough to go back to working away as I did a number of times with permie jobs when I was young with no ties.

I don't think anyone would choose working away over local given a choice but sometimes needs must. I also have a young family and feel fortunate that for the last 4 years or so I've been primarily UK mainland based whereas my first 4 years of contracting were almost exclusively in contracts based outside the UK mainland. I tend to try to make the most of local contracts as and when I can.

If it is a choice between being away and the BS with 1-1s, annual reviews and general greasy pole crap that is associated with being a permie then I know which way route I'd prefer to choose.

[ShandyDrinker]

I back you up it is a fact but also the other issues is some financial services clients see employing an outsourcer as an easy risk averse option as suddenly no pesky compliance questions to answer as well as removing any need for the hiring manager to take any responsibility for his outsourced team members! One very well known bank I worked at could not get enough staff with very basic English language skills from India @ £100 a day for SAP, BA & BI roles yet the outsourcer was still charging £500 a day!

I still question this fact. One of the reason the lead agencies and outsourcers have done well is that many companies (certainly larger ones) didn't want the admin overhead of dealing with many agencies or individual contractor ltd companies.

While the outsourcer may have been charging what you suggest in this instance, the cost to the bank (aside from the rate) was probably minimal as they said, we need a person to do X, sort it out. The alternative would have been advertising themselves or engaging potentially multiple agencies... you can see the bigger picture.

The headline figure may look higher as you are suggesting but dig deeper and I suspect it won't be. If there's one thing I've learned dealing with accountants over the years, if there isn't either a short or long term financial benefit of doing something, they won't do it!

[WTFH]

I don't think anyone would choose working away over local given a choice but sometimes needs must.

Before I got married I enjoyed working away from home. Now I still like it, but in smaller chunks.

[LondonManc]

Before I got married I enjoyed working away from home. Now I still like it, but in smaller chunks.

It's a necessary evil at times; it's easier to justify with the difference in rates between Manchester and London though.

[CoolCat]

It's a necessary evil at times; it's easier to justify with the difference in rates between Manchester and London though.

Depends where it is and how nice the accommodation is how much I enjoy it, but I have almost always worked away.

[LondonManc]

Depends where it is and how nice the accommodation is how much I enjoy it, but I have almost always worked away.

As long as it's a lockable room with free wifi, I'm not that fussy. It's mainly about a room for the night - I try and negotiate working extra Monday to Thursday and leave early/WFH Friday.

[uk contractor]

Here is more of the same self serving flannel this time from Deloitte warning the PM British jobs will go abroad if she limits immigration! They are going abroad already so not sure how long it takes for the numpties @ Westminster to understand that!! We need to revoke all foreign IT visa's now that's what they have done in US & Australia before so why can UK not do that now?
PM warned British jobs may go abroad if she limits immigration

[CoolCat]

Here is more of the same self serving flannel this time from Deloitte warning the PM British jobs will go abroad if she limits immigration! They are going abroad already so not sure how long it takes for the numpties @ Westminster to understand that!! We need to revoke all foreign IT visa's now that's what they have done in US & Australia before so why can UK not do that now?
PM warned British jobs may go abroad if she limits immigration

Suggest you post this as a comment on the usual suspect political web sites, "ConservativeHome" etc where the people making the decisions are likely to read it. Posting this to a bunch of us is not going to help, other than get it off your chest...