State of the Market

[Fraidycat]

And following on from Vodafone, BT shedding 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade. Not good.

Dont worry, the UK government will issue 55,000 more visas to make up for the job losses.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

If you haven't invested significant time into a plan B/C then you aught to be doing. My Plan B has been running successfully for 5 years now and while it's not making me rich, the additional income goes a long way in the current climate and helps me relax a bit more. However, contract work has a lot of uncertainty due to AI and the state of the western economies, so I'm currently deploying plan C (move abroad to a better place) and Plan D is now in it's inception. Plan D being another startup venture which has been only a concept to date but now looks a lot more attractive due to how bad the IT market is.

[SussexSeagull]

If you haven't invested significant time into a plan B/C then you aught to be doing. My Plan B has been running successfully for 5 years now and while it's not making me rich, the additional income goes a long way in the current climate and helps me relax a bit more. However, contract work has a lot of uncertainty due to AI and the state of the western economies, so I'm currently deploying plan C (move abroad to a better place) and Plan D is now in it's inception. Plan D being another startup venture which has been only a concept to date but now looks a lot more attractive due to how bad the IT market is.

It's good to diversify but getting any enterprise off the ground is going to present it's own challenge in the current market.

As for AI, let's see. I can see it wiping out things like call centres but to heavily impact the IT industry it will need to get to a state that business and wider society are happy to let it run on and on updating itself without human intervention, by which point we are getting to the point a Universal Basic Income will need to be looked at as there won't be enough jobs to go round.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

It's good to diversify but getting any enterprise off the ground is going to present it's own challenge in the current market.

As for AI, let's see. I can see it wiping out things like call centres but to heavily impact the IT industry it will need to get to a state that business and wider society are happy to let it run on and on updating itself without human intervention, by which point we are getting to the point a Universal Basic Income will need to be looked at as there won't be enough jobs to go round.

Software Engineers and Tech people will be needed for a long while yet. However, you will likely need less of them with the current advances in technology and by utilising AI. So there will be an impact. What's shocking me most is that rates are dropping despite record inflation. Taking into account inflation I'm looking at rates that are now 30-40% where they were 4 years ago which is a complete joke.

[eek]

Taking into account inflation I'm looking at rates that are now 30-40% where they were 4 years ago which is a complete joke.

Nope it's just supply and demand.. And given the choice of someone like me and a few more overseas outsourced bods - this end client is still looking for more overseas people (because corporate policies don't allow more than x% uk contractors).

[Fraidycat]

What's shocking me most is that rates are dropping despite record inflation. Taking into account inflation I'm looking at rates that are now 30-40% where they were 4 years ago which is a complete joke.

It is called Stagflation, and it is brutal for contractors. Low demand pushes rates down while inflation is high.

[eek]

It is called Stagflation, and it is brutal for contractors. Falling demand pushes rates down while inflation is high.

It's not stagflation - that's what you get when you rate of £600 in September isn't increased to £660 or so on renewal in July.

The current market is such that the £600 rate in September is now £450 because the demand isn't there for contractors while the number of contractors seeking work is way more than in September.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

It's not stagflation - that's what you get when you rate of £600 in September isn't increased to £660 or so on renewal in July.

The current market is such that the £600 rate in September is now £450 because the demand isn't there for contractors while the number of contractors seeking work is way more than in September.

WHS.

Rates are absolutely shocking now. Brutal market. Staglation I could take, this is something else.

[The_Equalizer]

Software Engineers and Tech people will be needed for a long while yet. However, you will likely need less of them with the current advances in technology and by utilising AI. So there will be an impact.

There is the school of thought that making it quicker/easier will just mean more of it can be produced (provided the demand is there.) Supposedly the number of software engineers grows at the rate of 20%/year which explains why when LinkedIn fires up pictures of them they all look incredibly fresh faced and have been on coding boot camps.

[Fraidycat]

It's not stagflation - that's what you get when you rate of £600 in September isn't increased to £660 or so on renewal in July.

The current market is such that the £600 rate in September is now £450 because the demand isn't there for contractors while the number of contractors seeking work is way more than in September.

Stagflation is a period of rising inflation but falling output and rising unemployment.

It is especially brutal for contractors because contract rates can be adjusted down by 50% or even more. But permie salaries are never cut, if anything when inflation is 10%, permies (or at-least the ones who don't lose their jobs) will still get a pay rise, even if it is just 2%.

The last time there was a major bout of stagflation was the 70's, so its not something the contractor market has ever really seen before.