State of the Market

[SussexSeagull]

IT has been the future since the phrase was first coined. Nothing will change. HMG do not want to support any industry, it seems. Not sure what they think this country should produce

This is it. Sometimes we forget that IT Contracting is just part of the wider economy.

[slogger]

sounds quite bad out there. great time for me to think about quitting my current job (yes i made a disastrous error and went permie in jan).
second time i've done this in 30 years contracting - both times awful..hopefully i've learnt this time just dont have a permie mindset, i actually would prefer to be on less money as a contractor than go through the hell that is permiedom.
based in London, devop, linux admin, 2 years warchest in easy access ..

[SussexSeagull]

sounds quite bad out there. great time for me to think about quitting my current job (yes i made a disastrous error and went permie in jan).
second time i've done this in 30 years contracting - both times awful..hopefully i've learnt this time just dont have a permie mindset, i actually would prefer to be on less money as a contractor than go through the hell that is permiedom.
based in London, devop, linux admin, 2 years warchest in easy access ..

Every circumstance, including skill set and geographic area is different but unless you really can’t stand it so would urge caution.

Have a word with a few tame agents before deciding?

[Cid]

2 years warchest in easy access ..

2 years worth of war chest....
NLUK will shed a single tear out of pride.

[slogger]

Every circumstance, including skill set and geographic area is different but unless you really can’t stand it so would urge caution.

Have a word with a few tame agents before deciding?

Yep.. i was thinking of applying for a couple of contracts and see
What happens

[uk contractor]

Forget any war chest I have gone through about £100K's worth of war chest thinking it was enough over the decades...it never is! When you are not earning anymore your expenditure rises dramatically!!

[BionicTeddyBear]

Things have picked up a tiny bit for me in London and I've finally had an offer. I've also had, what appeared to be, a positive interview today.

Unfortunately though, the bouyency of the market is still nothing in comparison to the market pre referendum when I would frequently turn my phone off as I was getting a phone call every 5 mins.

Something else I've noticed is that contractor interviews seem to be getting a lot more difficult - perhaps due to flood of available contractors on the market.

The amount of technical tests and mini projects that I've had to do in the last 12 months is scary.

[BolshieBastard]

Forget any war chest I have gone through about £100K's worth of war chest thinking it was enough over the decades...it never is! When you are not earning anymore your expenditure rises dramatically!!

This.

And I gather Morgan Stanley are going to dump contractors who dont convert to permie after 22 months. Glad Imout of it really.

[uk contractor]

This.

And I gather Morgan Stanley are going to dump contractors who dont convert to permie after 22 months. Glad Imout of it really.

Many US based firms do this now as its all part of one of their financial service sector rule's to know your staff & ONLY have perms not temps or disguised contractors.
Sarbanes–Oxley Act - Wikipedia

[Bluenose]

2 years worth of war chest....
NLUK will shed a single tear out of pride.

For Linux Dev-Ops contractors, you have to factor in Vape/e-cig habit, Beard Oil, Craft Ale and Asian girlfriend overheads - 6 months or less to bankruptcy imho.