State of the Market

[jamesbrown]

A genuine thanks for this note and the subsequent replies too.

I've dreaded the thought of going permie again for the reasons you state. I don't like the idea of long notice periods, HR BS, reviews and so on. However, I'm genuinely willing to give it a shot and see if age has mellowed me, being more relaxed as a permie in my early 50s than I was in my 20s and 30s.

Being permie and the stuck the post office certainly rings true but I suspect no worse than working in a large corporate in the UK.

I do take seriously the point though about mental health. I'm pretty resolute that if it doesn't work out, I will be back to contracting relatively quickly, depending on how I see people on here getting on and more importantly, ex-contractor colleagues who I know are also facing a torrid time with not finding any work.

It's been a very long time since I was a permie, but I do vaguely recall some upsides too, such as recognition/attribution of your contributions and CPD. As a contractor, you don't really expect or want that (client interaction of that nature is usually procurement running a fine toothed comb over deliverables ), but there's no harm in receiving some recognition, on a basic human level. On the whole, though, fook permiedom

[SussexSeagull]

i've seen lots of downturns.
been a contractor since '72
my point is that whingeing and moaning doesn't help.

I don't think people, in the main, are whingeing and moaning. They are offering honest assessments of the contract market as they see it.

[dsc]

I feel this as well, but lots of permies are more comfortable with the illusion of security.
The nutters.

It's not just the extended process of leaving, the insane onboarding cascade of interviews, tests and obstacles do not do it for me.

But needs must.
I don't think permie jobs aren't worth doing, I'm just completely unsuited to them.
Also being on half-pay bothers me. And the stupid "package" of benefits I don't want.

It is often easier to just lay low and do nothing for years, if that's what you fancy. Especially attractive if the pay package isn't half bad and your manager isn't a psycho, suits some people, lets be honest. And also you don't stick out like a sore thumb for charging £800-£1000 per day, especially in current times where everyone wants to cut costs (and I'm not saying you'll not be cut when being a permie).

[Peoplesoft bloke]

.....I do vaguely recall some upsides too, such as recognition/attribution of your contributions a......, but there's no harm in receiving some recognition, on a basic human level. On the whole, though, fook permiedom

Just my personal experience - but I've always had more recognition as a contractor. Current permie role is akin to a bad marriage where you are pilloried for lots and praised for nowt.

[Fraidycat]

That reminds me of the time I did a stint a the company that has the moto 'We try harder'.

They gave me a 'embodies we try harder' certificate for my work, even though I was a contractor. I was going through Giant at the time so didn't really care about the IR35 implications.

[Ketto]

What always gets me about “permanent” employment is how on a knife edge so many people seem to be. I know lots of people who have been made redundant, are going through redundancy, are at risk, being restructured etc.

My other half has worked at a large FS place for 13 years and pretty much the whole time some redundancy, restructure or need to apply for her own job threat has been dangling over her to some degree or other.

[dsc]

[...]My other half has worked at a large FS place for 13 years and pretty much the whole time some redundancy, restructure or need to apply for her own job threat has been dangling over her to some degree or other.

Lego in Denmark does it all the time, there's constantly some form of reducing costs / redundancy program in place so no one can be sure of their position. This is of course to force people to not rock the boat and be grateful that they have a position. Absolutely soul destroying.

[Bluenose]

An interesting pattern for ex-tech. recruitment consultants.

a) they have removed any trace of them being a recruitment consultant from their career profiles
b) they have moved into an AI startup of some sort.

[fatJock]

Friends who are Perm are often questioning the lack of security as a contractor yet trundle on blindly oblivious to the fact that they're just a number and very easy to make redundant. Personally I find there's more security in contracting - at least you're more in control.

[BlueSharp]

Friends who are Perm are often questioning the lack of security as a contractor yet trundle on blindly oblivious to the fact that they're just a number and very easy to make redundant. Personally I find there's more security in contracting - at least you're more in control.

Midterm security I agree, but the certainty of a pay packet hitting your account at the end of the month, and for most at our level, a 3-month notice period is a nice warm fuzzy blanket for them.


A large war chest is the best security :-)