State of the Market

[Bluenose]

CS news clearly awful for FS market, quadruple whammy I would say:

1. Obviously no hiring from CS - was a major user of contractors in the Wharf
2. Probably less hiring from UBS as they absorb the CS people - another huge client
3. CS people out of work looking for roles therefore increasing competition
4. Affect on share prices in the sector and therefore hiring

On the plus side, contractors with experience of integration may be in more demand

The lessons from previous crisis is that when something goes bust, many contractor roles are lost.

When something is merged or, integrated, many contractor roles are created.

I think its the latter not the former.

[TheDude]

I've been lucky to be in continuous work since covid with a couple of self-imposed breaks. I've also done some additional work on the side on a few occassions which has helped to give me a small cushion. The biggest problem I see now is that the market is completely dead. I have a plan B well in motion now that manages to pay about 25% of my income but I still depend on contract work as my bread and butter. I've never seen the market so dead at this time of the year with basically zero calls from agencies, but I should be ok with my current gig for a few more months. I'm in the process of moving to the middle east as I'm of the opinion that Europe is basically dying and it's just a matter of time before we have a serious brain drain as there is nothing to really live for here anymore.

What do you do? I am still approached for roles although it is quieter than usual.

[PerfectStorm]

Rates aren't great at the moment. There's a shortage of roles and recruiters know. Getting a lot of "Maximum the client will pay is X, I've put things forward at higher before and they just get declined" - how do you field these? Is "never accept the first offer" good advice or do you burn weeks/months holding out for the last £50/£100?

Interested to know peoples thoughts on the psychology of this. I've played hardball in the past with mixed results - over the long term I'm not sure it's done me any good. I feel like starting soon on 80-90% of what you'd like is better than spending weeks/months on 0% of it.

[ladymuck]

Rate's aren't great at the moment. There's a shortage of roles and recruiters know. Getting a lot of "Maximum the client will pay is X, I've put things forward at higher before and they just get declined" - how do you field these? Is "never accept the first offer" good advice or do you burn weeks/months holding out for the last £50/£100?

Interested to know peoples thoughts on the psychology of this. I've played hardball in the past with mixed results - over the long term I'm not sure it's done me any good. I feel like starting soon on 80-90% of what you'd like is better than spending weeks/months on 0% of it.

Because you don't know if the agent is telling the truth all you can do is make sure that any rate you get is at the very minimum going to cover your regular outgoings. I'm not saying you shouldn't push for more but knowing at what point you're operating at a loss helps you keep things in perspective.

If you know the going rate for your skill set is £300 a day more than that minimum and the agent is saying the client will only pay £150 then you know that your outgoings are covered and you just look to jump ship as soon as the opportunity arises. You might get an extension where a rate negotiation is possible.

I am rarely hung up on the day rate and see better rates as a bonus.

[TheDude]

Rate's aren't great at the moment. There's a shortage of roles and recruiters know. Getting a lot of "Maximum the client will pay is X, I've put things forward at higher before and they just get declined" - how do you field these? Is "never accept the first offer" good advice or do you burn weeks/months holding out for the last £50/£100?

Interested to know peoples thoughts on the psychology of this. I've played hardball in the past with mixed results - over the long term I'm not sure it's done me any good. I feel like starting soon on 80-90% of what you'd like is better than spending weeks/months on 0% of it.

Define 'hardball' - refusing to budge on rate? demanding an extra fifty on top? hostage taking/armed seige?

[brightondeveloper]

Surely this is a joke?

Software Developer
Yeovil - £48.50 - £64.00 per day + PAYE/UmbrellaContractPosted by: Outsource UK

https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobLa...gn=InstantJob2

[WTFH]

Surely this is a joke?

Software Developer
Yeovil - £48.50 - £64.00 per day + PAYE/UmbrellaContractPosted by: Outsource UK

https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/JobLa...gn=InstantJob2

The title is wrong.
It says HOURLY RATE in the ad, not per day (in the title)

Hourly Rate: £48.50 PAYE or £64.00 Umbrella

[Bluenose]

I've played hardball in the past with mixed results - over the long term I'm not sure it's done me any good. I feel like starting soon on 80-90% of what you'd like is better than spending weeks/months on 0% of it.

Money and reputation are sometimes never linked.

Sure you could have taken a rate cut to get a role quickly but how long would you have lasted there and how high would have been your quality of work?

You can have an empty bank account but a near perfect track record.

You can have a full bank account and nothing but scorched earth behind you.

Back in the day, when the market was good, people would have no morals at all about downing tools on zero notice. These days the pool of places that engage contractors is much tighter than it was and reputation is not something you want to burn.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

What do you do? I am still approached for roles although it is quieter than usual.

Data Engineer/Data Architect predominantly Azure. Can also do Data Migrations and the like.

[Fraidycat]

I feel like starting soon on 80-90% of what you'd like is better than spending weeks/months on 0% of it.

If you are stuck on the bench and being told by multiple agents that you are pricing yourself out of the clients budget then at some-point you need to cut your rate.

Although you are lucky you are getting calls from agents to discuss roles, many on here are currently not even getting those..