State of the Market

[FIERCE TANK BATTLE]

Weren't you aware of this when you signed on?

Nope, they didn't mention it until the onboarding call!

Like, thanks... although it wouldn't really matter, I needed the job, so will not be messing around at all this is very much head down work hard given the climate.

However come renewal time with almost every single person on the project being from overseas I suspect there will be a lot of people that don't want to spend another 6 months away from their family at home.


Think the topic of cheekily working from overseas is done now, yes you can get caught, yes it's a bad idea etc.

It was fun to fantasise though as a way of venting about it. Like, maybe I can work in the foyer of the British embassy?

I'm hoping that I can move to Europe and work there next year instead of working for UK places, but that is a whole other kettle of fish.

[rocktronAMP]

Nope, they didn't mention it until the onboarding call!

Like, thanks... although it wouldn't really matter, I needed the job, so will not be messing around at all this is very much head down work hard given the climate.

However come renewal time with almost every single person on the project being from overseas I suspect there will be a lot of people that don't want to spend another 6 months away from their family at home.


Think the topic of cheekily working from overseas is done now, yes you can get caught, yes it's a bad idea etc.

It was fun to fantasise though as a way of venting about it. Like, maybe I can work in the foyer of the British embassy?

I'm hoping that I can move to Europe and work there next year instead of working for UK places, but that is a whole other kettle of fish.

As software engineer architect, I am tempted to ask the reverse question, and probably it is naive and since we are involving a hint and a dash of fantasy in this here discussion.
is it possible for a UK software architect to work remotely for internation client who does not have connection to the UK whatsoever?

[FIERCE TANK BATTLE]

is it possible for a UK software architect to work remotely for internation client who does not have connection to the UK whatsoever?

I always wondered this, if you could work for a US company for 6-12 months and absolutely *rake* it in given how much they pay over there. I can put up with working bizarre hours in order to make a crazy amount of cash.

[jamesbrown]

is it possible for a UK software architect to work remotely for internation client who does not have connection to the UK whatsoever?

Honestly, I have no idea why more people don't do it, although it may be tougher to get those gigs in IT than in some other areas (not my specialty) based on what I see here. Basically, if you have a skillset that is in-demand, internationally, why not sell it internationally? I haven't worked for a UK client for years. I have no doubt many others who are currently not doing it, could do it. The hardest part is building the network to get the gigs, but you may otherwise get lucky through friends of friends etc. Also, in response to FTB, other than a few meetings at mutually convenient times, you should be able to dictate your own working hours, TBH.

[SussexSeagull]

I imagine the problem is every country has its own rules about these things and tend to default to the local market. Plus, not that I am an expert in US employment law, in the US it is easier to get rid of people so the argument for contractors isn't so compelling.

[SussexSeagull]

The last few pages of this thread have really disappointed me. I thought you lot claimed to be IT experts!

Some obvious reasons you will be caught if working abroad without permission:-

• A client computer can, on demand or routinely, list bluetooth devices nearby, wifi networks nearby. It is easy to tell if someone is abroad if the access points are Yoico and JazzTEL, they're in Spain.
• Computers can contain GPS chips.
• Computers can contain SIM cards, you don't even know about.
• Computers can contain anti-theft devices which also report back other information, such as wifi accesspoints nearby, nearby mac addresses of wifi and bluetooth, anything a remote management bios from the likes of intel can interact with can be used to list your surroundings.
• Remote management is ubiquitous of course, so is remote webcam/mic checks and other third line tools for device management.
• Cloud services now offer detection of a VPN inside a VPN because certain network traits are exhibited when running a VPN inside another VPN. The hardware idea mentioned of running a VPN from the access point won't prevent this detection. A software VPN running over another client software VPN also won't prevent detection.
• If you're using 2FA on your phone via an app, google and microsoft apps can send back debug info, which is then fed into their cloud services. This can be linked with the VPN detection service to provide a realistic geolocation guess.
• Gov notify and other SMS 2FA send you an SMS and know whether your phone is in the UK or abroad when you receive it.

In short, don't even think about doing this for a gov contract and don't do it without permission from a private client, because unless they are a small time business with no security staff you will get caught and blacklisted from gov contractors and permanent roles and, in the present world environment, face legal problems.

I would never claim to be an expert in the subject but then again I am not trying to work abroad secretly!

[oliverson]

I always wondered this, if you could work for a US company for 6-12 months and absolutely *rake* it in given how much they pay over there. I can put up with working bizarre hours in order to make a crazy amount of cash.

That's me right there! 2.5 years and counting, working from the UK and to UK hours, with the odd meeting or email outside. The reason I mentioned UK hours here is not an admission of SDC, there isn't any, it's just a fact that I don't sit at my desk US hours.

If you invoice in USD and bring it back to GBP, the last couple of years have been VERY favourable, though obviously there's a small commission to pay on the transfer

[jamesbrown]

I imagine the problem is every country has its own rules about these things and tend to default to the local market. Plus, not that I am an expert in US employment law, in the US it is easier to get rid of people so the argument for contractors isn't so compelling.

There isn't a contracting (mass) market in the US as we understand it in the UK - that is largely covered by visa'd (e.g., H-1B) employees. There are, however, contracts available for specialist work and, as noted earlier, rates are much higher than in the UK/EU and IR35 is basically a non-issue, in practice, given the working practices, so it is worth the effort.

[Fraidycat]

Tech company layoffs still happening this month around the world.

Ebay announced yesterday it is laying of 1000 jobs.

Over 13,000 tech lay offs already in 2024, according to this link: https://layoffs.fyi/






I think that chart shows world wide tech layoffs, but it seems the UK contractor jobs market down turn started at the same time as mass tech layoffs, around the middle of 2022.


Thats a good chart to watch, we need to see the layoff numbers back to levels seen in Q1 2022

[Unix]

Tech company layoffs still happening this month around the world.

Ebay announced yesterday it is laying of 1000 jobs.

Over 13,000 tech lay offs already in 2024, according to this link: https://layoffs.fyi/






I think that chart shows world wide tech layoffs, but it seems the UK contractor jobs market down turn started at the same time as mass tech layoffs, around the middle of 2022.

The trend is downwards though (excluding seasonality) so by mid 2024 I reckon we will be boomin'