Anybody else just sick of contracting?

[oliverson]

Thought not.

After 13 years I've just really had enough. Day-in, day-out sat at somebody else's desk cranking out code. Money alone is not enough anymore. There has to be more to life than this.

[munkee]

Typically 3/4 of my invoice is spent on hookers and drugs. If you are asking is there more to life than contracting, then yes there is its usually in a bag and answers to the name charlie.

[SussexSeagull]

I am getting sick of not contracting at the moment (although hopefully not for much longer).

[oliverson]

I am getting sick of not contracting at the moment (although hopefully not for much longer).

Bit insensitive of me, apologies. I've been there before a few times. Good luck.

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Thought not.

After 13 years I've just really had enough. Day-in, day-out sat at somebody else's desk cranking out code. Money alone is not enough anymore. There has to be more to life than this.

When I started, I really used to enjoy going in, speccing something up, delivering it, supporting the roll out and then moving on to the next one.

Those sorts of roles where you have a leading role in all stages of the development lifecycle seem few and far between these days.

I blame agile. Or poor interpretations of agile which seem to lead to micro-management, boring work packaged up and fed to you in bite sized chunks and being observed through a microscope by too many people.

Yes, I'm with you on that one.

[SussexSeagull]

Bit insensitive of me, apologies. I've been there before a few times. Good luck.

No need to apologise.

The problem is end clients want the flexibility and expertise of contractors but want to treat them like permanent employees. Sadly most contractors seem to be happy with that arrangement.

[nucastle]

When I started, I really used to enjoy going in, speccing something up, delivering it, supporting the roll out and then moving on to the next one.

Those sorts of roles where you have a leading role in all stages of the development lifecycle seem few and far between these days.

I blame agile. Or poor interpretations of agile which seem to lead to micro-management, boring work packaged up and fed to you in bite sized chunks and being observed through a microscope by too many people.

Yes, I'm with you on that one.

I've never taken to 'Agile' over the last 18 months of being force fed it. Every project appears to take 4 times as long, is not incrementally delivered, and has a fixed end date which flies in the face of everything the 'manifesto' seeks to rectify.

The only people I know who are big on agile, are those doing the 'management' sides of it (scrum master, product owner ... yes i know it's supposed to be a flat hierarchy but it never seems to be) who are imposing it on the worker ants, and love new ways of imposing patterns and practices on others.

At what point do we get to call it out like the communist manifesto - i.e. great on paper, not so great forced on everyone.

It's definitely taken some of the fun out of IT.

[vwdan]

Thought not.

After 13 years I've just really had enough. Day-in, day-out sat at somebody else's desk cranking out code. Money alone is not enough anymore. There has to be more to life than this.

I'm not a coder - but no, I love the actual work side. Lots of worries over things like the market, government legislation and so on but the work? It's the best way I can imagine earning money at the moment - being an 'expert', getting paid enough to make people sick, no reviews etc.

[RustyWire]

I do see the bollockization of work, where internal politics has increased and silly fashions like agile (already commented) dominate pragmatism. I come from a manufacturing background where making things has a visual sequence of activities from order to delivery - when people are sat at a computer day after day, like battery hens, no one really knows what they are doing or can value it.

I'm working to put money into my pension pot then probably giving up on it next year - IR35 being the last straw.

[Pherlopolus]

I have a love hate relationship with it, this is my second spell as a contractor after an 11 year break in Permiedom, started second contract (or 18th depending how you look at it) on Monday working 2ish hours from home after 2 years of being home based, The project looks to be interesting, but the main redeeming factor of contracting is that all contracts are generally transient, and the money allows for time off between assignments.

Mentally I am ready to retire (45 with 25 years in IT), but financially I have at least another 15 years of full time work ahead of me.