job market

[ContractorMike]

is not to good, have been out for over a month now, but i am sure it will soon improve, no need to worry

[Fraidycat]

What do you specialise in?

The market often picks up in January and then again around April time so you could get lucky.

Some on here have been benched for 40 months now. On the bench since August of 2022..

Unfortunately Tech sector layoffs are still happening although not as high as in 2022/2023 but still well above the normal/good time levels when hardly any layoffs happen at all. This means the market is still flooded on the supply side.

[anonymouse]

A month, damn, how will you cope? I've been out to 2 years now.

I managed to get 2 contracts offered 12 months ago, but health issue (I went completely blind in 1 eye, which took 12 months to correct), meant I had to turn them down. I'm just re-adjusting life and retiring (pensions kick in in August, aged 60), sod it.

[ladymuck]

There is a huge thread called "state of the market".

Granted, it's full of dross about unrelated things like the economy, immigration, trade wars, exchanges rates and the like.

[ShandyDrinker]

As others have said, the market has been bad for years.

I feel lucky that I was offered a contract with a previous client in early 2022 and was there until July 2025. I found what many others did, the market was terrible. Not only that, the game really has changed, particularly if you're in software development. Multi-stage interviews, take home tests, pair programming exercises, etc. It's certainly not like it used to be.

I ended up taking a perm job in early October as I saw absolutely no point in flogging the dead horse that is the contracting market. The best part of 20 years contracting ended but hey, if nothing else, as a contractor you should be adaptable. What's sad is that I found the market worse than both the GFC and covid. It's not even been close.

I know of another 3 contractors who finished contracts at around the same time as I did, who haven't found work yet. Not far short of 6 months out of work and nothing on the horizon. It's bleak out there. I really do hope 2026 will pick up for those struggling, but sadly I just don't see the conditions in place for that to happen.

[b0redom]

Maybe I've just been lucky, but 40 months.

I've never really been out of work when I've wanted it, but I've been flexible on rates when the market has tanked, and continuously trained myself. What are all you folks who've been out for 6 months+ specialising in?

[TheDude]

I am 53. I am in an outside contract on my lowest rate ever and am now only considering perm positions.

[Dorkeaux]

Maybe I've just been lucky, but 40 months.

I've never really been out of work when I've wanted it, but I've been flexible on rates when the market has tanked, and continuously trained myself. What are all you folks who've been out for 6 months+ specialising in?

Me as well.

I'm a senior guy, but have no problem adjusting my rate to what the market will bear at the time.
I don't understand contractors who believe "I am worth X!", as if they can move the market with the sheer force of their will.

We are all trying to figure out why some contractors are out of work for years and some are not.

I haven't been out of work for very long when I've been looking either.
I don't attribute it to my amazing awesomeness. Nor the fabled "niche skills" concept.

The nearest I can get is the "ants in a microwave" dynamic I riffed on earlier.
Geography is a factor, I gravitated towards London.
As I got more experienced, I moved away from being a pure coder. More design, strategy, architecture and technical team leading these days.
As b0redom mentions, continuous training. Being a Pascal programmer was fun for a while, but come on..
Don't get locked into a single business domain. Banking isn't what it used to be.
And don't be a dick.

I hasten to add, none of this was planned. And might still go to worms now I've jinxed it.

[avonleigh]

Me as well.

I'm a senior guy, but have no problem adjusting my rate to what the market will bear at the time.
I don't understand contractors who believe "I am worth X!", as if they can move the market with the sheer force of their will.

We are all trying to figure out why some contractors are out of work for years and some are not.

I haven't been out of work for very long when I've been looking either.
I don't attribute it to my amazing awesomeness. Nor the fabled "niche skills" concept.

The nearest I can get is the "ants in a microwave" dynamic I riffed on earlier.
Geography is a factor, I gravitated towards London.
As I got more experienced, I moved away from being a pure coder. More design, strategy, architecture and technical team leading these days.
As b0redom mentions, continuous training. Being a Pascal programmer was fun for a while, but come on..
Don't get locked into a single business domain. Banking isn't what it used to be.
And don't be a dick.

I hasten to add, none of this was planned. And might still go to worms now I've jinxed it.

Never been out of work, other than 5 months during Covid and been contracting since 1998. 2003 was quite bad I remember, took a rate of £192 a day and had to stay away 4 nights a week. Stayed in the cheapest digs I could find. Other people turned their nose up at that rate but it kept my bills paid for 9 months until the market improved. 2007 during the financial crisis I didn't even notice their was a downturn as managed to stay in the same contract for 4 years.
So what I am trying to say is people who stay in work during downtimes are one of these three a) have specialist skills (which probably 90% of us don't) b) are just lucky enough to have a long contract c) aren't too proud to take a rubbish rate or work away from home.

[sadkingbilly]

how many whiny jobs threads are we going to have, then?
asking for a friend.