State of the Market

[Lance]

I think there are still growth prospects in

Cloud computing (partly driven by green initiatives, cloud provider are ESG focused)
AI and machine learning (these areas can lead to cost savings and new opportunities)
Dev Ops
Dispruptive FinTech (removing the old, expensive, slow ways)

I believe if you can align yourself with these trends, a slice of the $11 trillion that has been printed over the last 12 months globally might find it's way into your bank account.

don't forget security and secops

[_V_]

don't forget security and secops

Absolutely. I think contractors need to think beyond "I do Java" or "I know SQL" and totally align to these technology trends in some way. Generic skills are over I'm afraid.

[Lance]

Generic skills are over I'm afraid.

*ahem* depends if the client knows you're a jack of all trades or not *ahem*

You only need to be one page ahead of the client to be a specialist.

[BlueSharp]

They are not called generalists anymore, they're marketed as Full Stack Developers.

[DrGUID]

I'm back in a permie .NET development role but not sure how long it will last - the codebase is overengineered, and the usual response to that is to fire the new hire.

My reading of the situation is that I got something at the right time as things have gone very quiet with respect to new vacancies and recruiter phonecalls. I guess we're over the post-lockdown boom but now heading into the summer lul. In the medium term I suspect the economy (and hence jobs market) is heading for a sticky patch.

The roles out there right now are mostly the ones that suck. Like I flat out refused to work in an office in a small village that was devoid of anywhere to buy lunch according to Google Maps. They're now advertising the role as 100% remote.

It sucks that I'm currently on my 2001 salary, but at this stage of my career it's just can kicking.

[Destiny2]

I'm back in a permie .NET development role but not sure how long it will last - the codebase is overengineered, and the usual response to that is to fire the new hire.

My reading of the situation is that I got something at the right time as things have gone very quiet with respect to new vacancies and recruiter phonecalls. I guess we're over the post-lockdown boom but now heading into the summer lul. In the medium term I suspect the economy (and hence jobs market) is heading for a sticky patch.

The roles out there right now are mostly the ones that suck. Like I flat out refused to work in an office in a small village that was devoid of anywhere to buy lunch according to Google Maps. They're now advertising the role as 100% remote.

It sucks that I'm currently on my 2001 salary, but at this stage of my career it's just can kicking.

[GigiBronz]

Market was strongly picking up before June but now I think we are in the summer holiday season. Hiring managers are just taking time off, stareing into the sun or whatever their kind do. You can’t disrespect that.
My perception is that things are getting quieter now but still, a strong demand for contractors is still brewing, as the happy-go-lucky crowd are bidding on mortgages and enjoying their security and ‘being taken care of’ life, pensions and all that… work still needs to be done.

But if you need people doing the actual work, where do you find them?

The first crowd won’t be moving jobs soon because of commitments and the rest of the globe is on lockdown anyway so… no bobs and vegan food on discount.

Could that mean that an outside gig might not sound that bad on thei books?

We shall see…

[SussexSeagull]

For what it's worth the few bits and pieces I have done during lockdown have all been outside, albeit not great payers (although all working from home).

I suspect the doubt over everything going back to normal on the 21st is causing some hesitation in hiring people.

[CheeseSlice]

Doing a search on Jobserve for my preferred roles, there was a 55% to 45% split in favor of the Outside IR35 ones. It seems that employers are finally getting the message that skilled contractors do not want to work Inside IR35.

I hope you're right. Uploaded my CV 2 weeks ago to test the market. I'm in architecture and all calls and emails have been private sector and inside roles so far. Haven't been searching boards much though.

[BlueSharp]

The IR35 changes have not solved the main problem of why contractors exist - scarcity of resource. To get the top/required talent it's still a seller market espeically if the economey continues to recover at the pace it does. Quietly hopeful the boom times are just around the corner.