State of the Market

[SchumiStars]

umI started work in 2000. My starting salary was 32k per annum and market was in full swing. I remember there being a contractor there on £100ph plus overtime. I have never seen that rate again.

[Fraidycat]

umI started work in 2000. My starting salary was 32k per annum and market was in full swing. I remember there being a contractor there on £100ph plus overtime. I have never seen that rate again.

Inflation adjusted, year 2000 was peak rates. I was on over £6000 a week in todays money doing bog standard java work.
And I was cheap, the CSC consultants on site were billing 3x what i was billing. And there were dozens of them. The client blew threw £12 million of dot com bubble venture capital in six months.

Demand for contractors will eventually return to normal. But rates will never exceed those of 2021 on an inflation adjusted basis ever again. Let alone the rates of 2000.

[northernladuk]

Inflation adjusted, year 2000 was peak rates. I was on over £6000 a week in todays money doing bog standard java work.
And I was cheap, the CSC consultants on site were billing 3x what i was billing. And there were dozens of them. The client blew threw £12 million of dot com bubble venture capital in six months.

Demand for contractors will eventually return to normal. But rates will never exceed those of 2021 on an inflation adjusted basis ever again. Let alone the rates of 2000.

Cool story bro

[GJABS]

Well done for getting into oxbridge and graduating. I once wondered whether I could go there for a masters degree, but didn't look into it seriously in the end. I probably considered it for superficial/status/enjoyment reasons rather that what I should have wanted (hard work / improve myself, etc).

I guess in careers there is always an element of chance in the doors that open to you, and when they open to you. Not every one is going to make it to the C-suite. But not everyone wants to make it to the top either. Over the years I've come to realise that ambition/persistence (something I don't have a lot of) is an important aspect that has a significant bearing on how careers can progress.

Whatever the case, I hope you are happy enough and appreciate your own achievements. If you want more, you could try dialing up your ambition and letting it express itself in your interactions with others, and see what happens.

You go to a university to learn how to learn. A lot of people don't go to university and learn IT skills at home or while doing a job.
If you want a higher day rate you need to reskill in other areas or change specialism.

Agree with both of these comments. Thanks.

Gaining IT skills while doing a job is risky though, because unless you are specifically being told to study something (as some permies are), if you are spending energy learning new skills then you are by definition spending less energy doing the job in hand for your current client. Clients are not stupid and they will pick up on this, and it might result in you getting fired, because they are only interested in their company's business; your career development is of no value to them if you're a contractor.

[JustKeepSwimming]

Gaining IT skills while doing a job is risky though, because unless you are specifically being told to study something (as some permies are), if you are spending energy learning new skills then you are by definition spending less energy doing the job in hand for your current client. Clients are not stupid and they will pick up on this, and it might result in you getting fired, because they are only interested in their company's business; your career development is of no value to them if you're a contractor.

This is wrong, and might explain a fair bit.

[JustKeepSwimming]

Inflation adjusted, year 2000 was peak rates. I was on over £6000 a week in todays money doing bog standard java work.
And I was cheap, the CSC consultants on site were billing 3x what i was billing. And there were dozens of them. The client blew threw £12 million of dot com bubble venture capital in six months.

Demand for contractors will eventually return to normal. But rates will never exceed those of 2021 on an inflation adjusted basis ever again. Let alone the rates of 2000.

Bubbles are a fact of capitalism. You might not find yourself in the right skillset for the next bubble doesn't mean there won't be contractors earning 'obscene' rates in it.

I know someone who seeming has the Midas touch, he has ridden 3 mini bubbles so far and maintained £1000~ outside in FS over the last 5 years. Big Data > GDPR > Customer Duty. For all intents and purposes, he is a middling PM but manages the magical +10%, ie, appear to know 10% more on the subject than the person who is hiring you.

[Fraidycat]

Bubbles are a fact of capitalism.

They say it is the US Federal Reserve that is to blame for these last few mega bubbles. Flooding the markets with cheap money. So not really normal capitalism at work. The Bank of England is then forced to go along as well.

Recessions in both the US and UK are now widely expected in the next 6 to 12 month timeframe, as the lag effect of 5% interest rates finally hits. Jamie Dimon, the head of JP Morgan, this week was talking about the possibility of 7% rates.

[edison]

Agree with both of these comments. Thanks.

Gaining IT skills while doing a job is risky though, because unless you are specifically being told to study something (as some permies are), if you are spending energy learning new skills then you are by definition spending less energy doing the job in hand for your current client. Clients are not stupid and they will pick up on this, and it might result in you getting fired, because they are only interested in their company's business; your career development is of no value to them if you're a contractor.

You obviously have to concentrate when doing your job to deliver but what about evenings and weekends? And of course, breaks between contracts are a perfect excuse to brush up on skills. Not all new skills need to take months or years to learn either.

[JustKeepSwimming]

They say it is the US Federal Reserve that is to blame for these last few mega bubbles. Flooding the markets with cheap money. So not really normal capitalism at work. The Bank of England is then forced to go along as well.

Recessions in both the US and UK are now widely expected in the next 6 to 12 month timeframe, as the lag effect of 5% interest rates finally hits. Jamie Dimon, the head of JP Morgan, this week was talking about the possibility of 7% rates.

ah yes, I forgot the Feds role in the Tulip mania!

You're right that the Fed has a big influence in avaliable capital, and that is rocket fuel for a bubble.

But they do occur without undue influence from the Fed. We are teetering on one of many once in a lifetime innovations that could cause massive economic growth (tbf we been teetering for a while).

We are in a recession, anyone saying otherwise has a vested interest or on pure copium. Still seeing MSM and property experts saying the property market will recover by end of the year.

For interest rates I think it's a coin flip, between maintain and increase. No one is lowering anytime soon.

[mogga71]

ah yes, I forgot the Feds role in the Tulip mania!

You're right that the Fed has a big influence in avaliable capital, and that is rocket fuel for a bubble.

But they do occur without undue influence from the Fed. We are teetering on one of many once in a lifetime innovations that could cause massive economic growth (tbf we been teetering for a while).

We are in a recession, anyone saying otherwise has a vested interest or on pure copium. Still seeing MSM and property experts saying the property market will recover by end of the year.

For interest rates I think it's a coin flip, between maintain and increase. No one is lowering anytime soon.

Lots of talk of a new Credit Event (most likely manifesting itself as a small Bank failure) over in the USA. When the Fed has to choose between dealing with a crisis or keeping interest rates high to combat inflation they will always choose the former. A bad credit event could quite easily ...in the space of a few days ... result in a liquidity crisis and the Fed lowering rates and switching on the money printers again. Of course the Fed will spin it saying they believe they now have inflation under control so the time is right etc.