State of the Market

[SussexSeagull]

Your market might seem dead. There is no such thing as "a market" for IT where you can say it's greed dead, or flourishing or anywhere in between.

Agreed but there is such a thing as the wider economy and time of year does seem to make a difference

[OzzieExpat]

Your market might seem dead. There is no such thing as "a market" for IT where you can say its dead, or flourishing or anywhere in between.

Agreed, personal revelation isn't reliable evidence. However I know that Avanade, Cap Gem etc all have significant bench right now. Not sure I agree with you that there is no such thing as a "IT Market".

[Paralytic]

Not sure I agree with you that there is no such thing as a "IT Market".

Well, there obviously is. But anyone saying "the market is dead at the moment" or "the market has been great since 2 months ago" clearly a very limited/blinkered view of the world. It's a form cognitive bias/false consensus effect that many fall foul to.

[PerfectStorm]

All good contractors should be open to opportunities beyond the exact same client/industry/project they've been working in for years - you should find the market opens up then :-)

[SussexSeagull]

All good contractors should be open to opportunities beyond the exact same client/industry/project they've been working in for years - you should find the market opens up then :-)

Problem is it can be difficult to break into industry sectors that require experience and being inside IR35 reduces geographic mobility.

[OzzieExpat]

All good contractors should be open to opportunities beyond the exact same client/industry/project they've been working in for years - you should find the market opens up then :-)

I think we all do that as the industry evolves. New stuff comes out all the time. The other good thing with contracting is that you can choose what you do next, or at least turn stuff down. However it's easier to be in the niche which is your area.

[SussexSeagull]

Niches are fine while they is still a market for that niche.

[TheDude]

being inside IR35 reduces geographic mobility.

It means you can't live somewhere cheap and expect to trouser London money.

[Lance]

It means you can't live somewhere cheap and expect to trouser London money.

you can. It's just a commuting cost. Like with a job.
Which is what it is really.

[rocktronAMP]

you can. It's just a commuting cost. Like with a job.
Which is what it is really.

As a permie now, I have been interviewing mid-level engineers (mostly South East Asians, couple of British born or based folk).
What is that to do with things you say? It's the youngish 30-40 with 7 to 12 years experience with young family or civil partnership and trying to get on the housing market or attempting to jump up over the £60K /70K barrier (shambles since that was a very good salary in 2002/2003).
Well that demography are the ones willing to move from around for cheap.
Kwasi Kwarteng / Truss if only their so-called "mini" budget was toned down enough that it didn't annoy markets (traders), but let the IR35 repeal go through, we'd be all great sitting pretty. Tarnation!

So I think the State of the Market is going stagnate IMHO, if the companies are not flexible to allow remote working.
Contractors (the great one and the good ones exluding the bad one) are not easy to find. I think when systems start to go wrong in 2023 and IT Directors realise that it is because they sacked off the architect, infrastructure principal engineer and the rest of all, then they will realise. I also think the best businesses will know this ahead and try the hardest to convert some of these great contractors into consultants, but what the hell am I talking about? I dont know anything ... let the game of musical chairs continue