State of the Market

[PlanB]

Verbal offers of a 3 month gig or a trip back into permiedom.

I know it's not received wisdom here but I am seriously considering going permie for a bit.

The 3 monther is local but an average rate and although the project continues after Christmas it's not clear the role will and I really don't fancy spending January looking for a new gig.

I see the spectre of private sector off payroll looming and I am tempted to jump - not the braveheart contractor mentality I know, but finding any contract at all has been a bastard this time.

Cashed my chips in back in June and went perm to sit this one out, it is the perfect storm of Brexit and private sector IR35 roll out.

I don't need to contract financially, just need something to keep me ticking over until the waters clear, I will access whether to return to contracting next year.

If we don't come out of the EU in October the uncertainty is going to start biting very hard into business confidence.

[LadyPenelope]

Cashed my chips in back in June and went perm to sit this one out, it is the perfect storm of Brexit and private sector IR35 roll out.

I don't need to contract financially, just need something to keep me ticking over until the waters clear, I will access whether to return to contracting next year.

If we don't come out of the EU in October the uncertainty is going to start biting very hard into business confidence.

I'm considering this too. It was a whole different game back in 2004. There were far more opportunities then. Quite aside from April 2020, the increasing administrative burden is a PIA.

Mind you, when it's going well, you can't beat contracting. My last client was great. Bipolar way of life as PerfectStorm says. Also, not crazy about the idea of letting 'them' win, as it were.

[BrilloPad]

not crazy about the idea of letting 'them' win, as it were.

They already have. You can't change it.

[uk contractor]

Had a call from a really desperate agent based in India today insisting I give him several references as he had a role with an immediate start but I still needed to give him several references.....when I hung up I think he is probably still on the line trying to go figure if he ever gets those references me! LOL

[LadyPenelope]

They already have. You can't change it.

Kind of looks that way. Longing to close my ltd and be done with the hassle, tbh.

[AnthonyQuinn]

If you are in a contract keep your head down

Not a day passes when I dont regret giving up a contract a year go to learn some new skills. The contract was boring and extremely tedious. I also couldnt handle the client any more who had appointed a new manager for the area who was bugging me to death.

Now, even if I want, i cant go back. The money was good, location was very convenient and I should have clung on.

Teaches you a lesson. As long as you are being paid, keep your head down and keep invoicing.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Not a day passes when I dont regret giving up a contract a year go to learn some new skills. The contract was boring and extremely tedious. I also couldnt handle the client any more who had appointed a new manager for the area who was bugging me to death.

Now, even if I want, i cant go back. The money was good, location was very convenient and I should have clung on.

Teaches you a lesson. As long as you are being paid, keep your head down and keep invoicing.

That sounds more like a permatractor than a contractor though.

OK - my issue is that taking the contract I've been offered is a bit like if Thomas cook had been baled out again - it only kicks the can down the road a short way.

If it doesn't last into an extension, I will be back here but worse off in 3 months.

[PCTNN]

Not a day passes when I dont regret giving up a contract a year go to learn some new skills. The contract was boring and extremely tedious. I also couldnt handle the client any more who had appointed a new manager for the area who was bugging me to death.

Now, even if I want, i cant go back. The money was good, location was very convenient and I should have clung on.

Teaches you a lesson. As long as you are being paid, keep your head down and keep invoicing.

That's true and couldn't agree more.

Also very relevant to me. Started a contract a few months ago and it was just so boring. Barely anything to do.

I thought about quitting, I thought about finding something else. Went looking and got an offer for a new role but...drumroll...at my current gig I got moved to another project: much more interesting work, better people, better environment. And lots of work to be delivered, 2 years worth of work at least.

I would have missed on this very lucrative opportunity if I had given up after the first signs of boredom, just like too many contractors do nowadays.

On the other hand, I'm going to have to call the agent this afternoon and reject the offer for the new gig. Someone's going to be pissed

[ruasonid]

For those considering permiedom how will you counter the concerns by the employer that you'll take flight once the market picks up? Also, have you done the math - being half way through a tax year (assuming you have been paying salary and dividends)?

[PerfectStorm]

There is something to be said for keeping your head down and carrying on, but at the same time you shouldn't put a job ahead of your happiness unless you absolutely have to.

I quit a place that was driving me up the wall and it's taken me 2 months of looking 5 days a week to get a new contract (including a few declines, and August where basically nothing happened).

I could have stayed, but then I'd be 2 more months into something that was making me miserable and I'd have had to contend with getting time off for interviews etc too.

It's like taking holiday - sometimes as a contractor the instinct is to not do the things that our way in life is all about - one of those is taking comfortable time off in exchange for some job insecurity. Take it!