Anyone actually got a role via Indian agencies?

[Macaco]

There are many threads on the quality of the Indian recruitment agencies and how in general the advice is they're best to avoid. It's clear they're driving down (killing to some degree...) the contract market with the rates they talk about, assuming they're able to find/import people to work at those rates.

In spite of all of that I'm very interested to know whether anyone out there has actually won a contract with any of these firms at a competitive rate?

[cojak]

Competitive for whom?

Every contract that has been put to me by an Indian agent has been ~£100pd lower than my rate.

[Macaco]

Competitive for whom?

Competitive for the contractor. All approaches I have received from these agencies have also been well below what I consider to be 'normal' market rates. Hence the question if anyone out there has won a contract through these agencies at their standard rates.

[Whorty]

I had one call me once, with a "great role at a good rate. 250 per day ... interested?" I was still laughing as I put the phone down. Fortunately I get very few calls off them as I'm not a developer and I get the feeling that it's the developer roles they are killing the rates on.

[SueEllen]

Competitive for the contractor. All approaches I have received from these agencies have also been well below what I consider to be 'normal' market rates. Hence the question if anyone out there has won a contract through these agencies at their standard rates.

Needle -> haystack

[sal]

If anyone somehow miraculously managed to get a decent rate from them it was because the client was paying market rate x2, yet stupid enough to use them

[malvolio]

They aren't pitching roles to be filled, they are pitching roles that won't be filled so someone can bring in an ICT to cover the shortage they can't find anyone to take the job in the UK.

That's why we have a "skills shortage", incidentally. We don't, but a lot of skilled people aren't willing to work for uneconomic rates.

[SlipTheJab]

I had one ping me via LinkedIn about teaching a 4 day course for them, rate was £300 a day (inclusive of VAT!), looked on the website and they are charging 3k per attendee, TBH after Googling them even getting paid that would be a long punt, told them to Foxtrot Oscar

[ShandyDrinker]

They aren't pitching roles to be filled, they are pitching roles that won't be filled so someone can bring in an ICT to cover the shortage they can't find anyone to take the job in the UK.

That's why we have a "skills shortage", incidentally. We don't, but a lot of skilled people aren't willing to work for uneconomic rates.

^^ This. As has been put so eloquently elsewhere online, there is not a skills gap, just a pay gap. Unfortunately the term pay gap has primarily been used to highlight the pay differential between genders.

[css_jay99]

I am not so sure how there is an issue with such agencies.

There are lots of people out there who will rather take a low rate knowing fully well the agent is the one making the money than sit on the bench for a very long period.