Agency 'Cut'

[DodgyAgent]

It depends how 'good' they are.

Your mainstream agencies are likely to work on large volume, low margin. Whereas your niche agencies are going to be the other way around - low volume, high margin.

BUT, the odds of your niche agent vastly increasing the odds of getting you the contract before you've even interviewed (if an interview is even necessary - niche agents should know their market, client and candidates intimately (within reason!)), actually understanding what you do and subsequently offering you more interesting and being able to command you more lucrative contracts, are all very high.

If I had a £ for every time you IT contractors had told me how poorly the mainstream agents treat you people, I'd be a very rich man.

Therefore a higher margin shouldn't be taken at face value, it is the value add - as long as you are getting that value add.

If I had a £ for every time a contractor was poorly treated by an agent then I would be richer than you.

[IBM Agent]

If I had a £ for every time a contractor was poorly treated by an agent then I would be richer than you.

Precisely. My advice, therefore, is to get yourself a decent agent that understands your market, is credible, works for their margin and not Dodgy. Right DA?

[The Agents View]

If I had a £ for every time a contractor was poorly treated by an agent then I would be richer than you.

The annoying, frustrating reality, is that the sheisters that do it, often earn more than a few £ in doing it......

They'll get found out though - integrity is the only way forward in my opinion. I might be alone though....

[tim123]

If I had a £ for every time a contractor was poorly treated by an agent then I would be richer than you.

Perhaps you are over sensitive :-)

I once had an agent give me a bollocking about how I had "wasted his time" because I had the nerve to cancel an interview - FFS. Would he have preferred that I went on the interview and then declined the job?

tim

[FarmerPalmer]

I spoke to my clinet before Christmas and it seems that mine has been creaming it.

My Rate + 33%, or 25% of Total Value

[Stan.goodvibes]

My hot little agent friend Shazza who moved to Sydney before I did disclosed the other day that they charge 15% as standard.

Also I've had to fill out a couple of forms that the client passed onto the agent for me to complete regarding relevent past experience etc, and on the form there are boxes for Agency Daily rate and Contractor Daily Rate, confirming what I have been told by more than one agent here that the contractors rate and agency rate are BOTH set by the client, preventing the agency from underpaying the contractor.

So, Oz, bit of chav-free zone then..

[The Agents View]

My hot little agent friend Shazza who moved to Sydney before I did disclosed the other day that they charge 15% as standard.

Also I've had to fill out a couple of forms that the client passed onto the agent for me to complete regarding relevent past experience etc, and on the form there are boxes for Agency Daily rate and Contractor Daily Rate, confirming what I have been told by more than one agent here that the contractors rate and agency rate are BOTH set by the client, preventing the agency from underpaying the contractor.

So, Oz, bit of chav-free zone then..

You're kidding aren't you? I know of at least 4 agencies whose minimum margin on a (roughly speaking) £500 pd person is 25% - they start trying it on for 35%.

[The Agents View]

I spoke to my clinet before Christmas and it seems that mine has been creaming it.

My Rate + 33%, or 25% of Total Value

It depends on where your rate sits. If your rate is below the £350 per day mark, then that's fairly standard - if it's above that, then you might find you were a one off placement, at which point the agency will generally charge more because it's the only piece of business they can expect from that client.

Ultimately however, if you do sit above that 350 odd level, then I would tend to agree that someone is extracting the michael a touch, but as long as you were happy and accepted the rate at the time, quite frankly the margin the client is paying is completely seperate to you (i.e. it should be used as a negotiation tool at renewal time, not as a reason to be resentful). We all need to make a living, and in the same way you would need to extract more money if you weren't getting any work, we also have to make sure that we extract more money if that's likely to be the only placement we make for a period of time.

In essence, 25% is top end, but is not unreasonable.

[Julius Caesar]

It depends on where your rate sits. If your rate is below the £350 per day mark, then that's fairly standard - if it's above that, then you might find you were a one off placement, at which point the agency will generally charge more because it's the only piece of business they can expect from that client.

Ultimately however, if you do sit above that 350 odd level, then I would tend to agree that someone is extracting the michael a touch, but as long as you were happy and accepted the rate at the time, quite frankly the margin the client is paying is completely seperate to you (i.e. it should be used as a negotiation tool at renewal time, not as a reason to be resentful). We all need to make a living, and in the same way you would need to extract more money if you weren't getting any work, we also have to make sure that we extract more money if that's likely to be the only placement we make for a period of time.

In essence, 25% is top end, but is not unreasonable.

Or to put it another way, 25% off the top is standard, but may be reduced if there might be more work coming from there, and the rate is high enough. But if the rate is low, it's only low for the contractor, the agent's take is kept high.

"not unreasonable"?

[The Agents View]

Or to put it another way, 25% off the top is standard, but may be reduced if there might be more work coming from there, and the rate is high enough. But if the rate is low, it's only low for the contractor, the agent's take is kept high.

"not unreasonable"?

You're looking at this the wrong way. The margin is not "off the top", it's "on top" - we're not taking it directly away from you. Personally I would negotiate with you at first conversation stage - if I get you what you want, what the client is paying is irrelevant, as long as there's not a vast disparity.

Actually, no - 25% is standard if the role is mid level (pay £300, charge £400), 20% would be standard at top level (so roughly speaking, pay £800, charge £1000 would be about standard) - the CLIENT can then negotiate less margin which makes it cheaper for them but doesn't affect the contractors pay rate. 15% would be about standard for a long standing relationship. 8 -12% for massive, managed service accounts - 4-5% for payroll "put throughs".