Market really this bad?

[expat]

I sure hope the people complaining that £300/day is low are either living down south or have some kind of major ongoing financial commitment.

[swamp]

WHS

£300 would be my floor price before I'd seriously look to do something different.

[Mehmeh]

WHS

£300 would be my floor price before I'd seriously look to do something different.

Really? What would you move into?

do you think you could earn the 300+ per day doing "something different".. or would you move into something that you had a passion for?

I seriously couldn't earn anywhere near my daily rate doing anything else but coding.. If I couldn't earn a living doing this then I guess head to uni to do a degree for my next profession.....god knows what tho.

[Olly]

exactly - £300 (or perhaps £250) is min I'd work for. Any less than that and I'd prefer to use my time for something else - either a track to a better rate or travelling or doing something I enjoy until the elusive well paid contract appears.

£50 a day - yes of course you can live (as in not die) on that too.....what's you're point though!

If they have aspirations outside of just "being happy and healthy" and can fufill them on £50 quid a day then fair play to them.

If of course you know you have the potential to earn substantially more than that and choose to cut your cloth and choose your goals accordingly then why is it some how "greedy" to turn your nose up at low rates as other posters seem to be insinuating?

[swamp]

Really? What would you move into?

do you think you could earn the 300+ per day doing "something different".. or would you move into something that you had a passion for?

"something different" would probably be "permie", but I shudder at the thought!

Actually if I could keep the travel costs down then my floor price may be even lower -- have to feed the family at the end of the day, so there isn't actually a limit I'd work for. I think at around £250 per day I'd look to hourly rates and overtime/weekends, or multiple contracts. I'm never going permie!

[gar_k]

Had an interview today for a role only offering only £280 a day . Its alot less than I was on in previous contracts but several months on bench and I'm starting to get desperate.
The role is also for 6 months which means stuck on crap rate and not able to negotiate after 3 months if rates pick up.

Beggars can't be choosers these days it seems - seriously hope rates pick up come April! I'd probably take it to get me by and keep looking.

[Mustang]

exactly - £300 (or perhaps £250) is min I'd work for. Any less than that and I'd prefer to use my time for something else - either a track to a better rate or travelling or doing something I enjoy until the elusive well paid contract appears.

£50 a day - yes of course you can live (as in not die) on that too.....what's you're point though!

If they have aspirations outside of just "being happy and healthy" and can fufill them on £50 quid a day then fair play to them.

If of course you know you have the potential to earn substantially more than that and choose to cut your cloth and choose your goals accordingly then why is it some how "greedy" to turn your nose up at low rates as other posters seem to be insinuating?

I would take it right now. It is SO depressing being on the bench and applying for ton of jobs only to have some t0sser of an agent tell you that you didn't match the clients requirements and yet you know you could do it with your eyes shut!!

For those in a contract be greatful!

[TheBigYinJames]

WHS
£300 would be my floor price before I'd seriously look to do something different.

Nice to see that bravura, hubris and BS are still the order of the day during a major major downturn in the IT market.

£300 a day is an EXCELLENT rate in the current market. Get real.

[HairyArsedBloke]

I sure hope the people complaining that £300/day is low are either living down south or have some kind of major ongoing financial commitment.

Plenty of people round here getting by on the equivalent of £50/day.

Week

[expat]

Nice to see that bravura, hubris and BS are still the order of the day during a major major downturn in the IT market.

£300 a day is an EXCELLENT rate in the current market. Get real.

Hiya BigYin. How real do I have to get?

If I redo the same calc as I did on the previous page, with a contract that I talked to an agent about today, here is what I get. It's in the mainland EU. Since I (and my family) live in England, that means a weekly commute; while the client might not have thought of taking that into account, he probably should because it's pretty normal. Anyway the best IT contractors are British . That gives expenses of £2000 per month: £500 per week is just enough for 1 return flight, 1 return trip to the airport at both ends, a heap hotel, and a few cheap dinners.

Now, the rate on offer has been taken down to 320€ - 350€/day. Lets see 320€. With the usual 200 working days/year (10 months work 2 months bench etc, but 10 days off Christmas New Year etc, and 2 weeks holiday; or chop it up differently if you like), that's about £50112 billed per year, or £30112 after expenses. Taking off Employer's NICs leaves a gross salary of £26601 per year.

That comes to net £1980 per month. £26601 is only about 2k more than a Mcdonalds Graduate Trainee. My partner's daughter went out with a 21-year-old Domino's Pizza assistant manager who was within sight of that.

OK, tighten your belts... but do you call this IT Contracting? For this they want Siebel and database admin/config experience, analysis skills, and high productivity with no security. It's not that they can't pay 600-700 a day, it's just that they think that they don't need to.

Well, at that level I'd be tempted to do the American Beauty option, and go to the hamburger joint. At least I'd get home every night.