market

[centurian]

Whatever the reason - S3's drop in profits wasn't that huge - they still made a shedload of money. Given the perceptions that the bottom has fallen out of the market, one would have expected their profits to have fallen much more.

[northernladuk]

Whatever the reason - S3's drop in profits wasn't that huge - they still made a shedload of money. Given the perceptions that the bottom has fallen out of the market, one would have expected their profits to have fallen much more.

I would hardly say the bottom has dropped out of the market. Maybe harder finding a gig but there are also bucket loads of people starting from redundancy etc.. There is more to it that one line sentences.

[GB9]

I would hardly say the bottom has dropped out of the market. Maybe harder finding a gig but there are also bucket loads of people starting from redundancy etc.. There is more to it that one line sentences.

Quite a few jobs about, but more people. Outcome = rates down unfortunately.

[BolshieBastard]

Whatever the reason - S3's drop in profits wasn't that huge - they still made a shedload of money. Given the perceptions that the bottom has fallen out of the market, one would have expected their profits to have fallen much more.

I would hardly say the bottom has dropped out of the market. Maybe harder finding a gig but there are also bucket loads of people starting from redundancy etc.. There is more to it that one line sentences.

Bah, humbug! Have to say I disagree with both of you. Regards S3, the info Andy posted showed their overall profitability was boosted by the market outside UK and Ireland.

Obviously, I can only speak for my specialism. Outside of london, jobs are few and far between. Thos that are available have lower rates by some margin, hence my continual surprise at agencies such as S3 showing increased profit from their contract division.

This clearly comes from screwing contractor rates across all specialisms down.

I dont see how bucket loads of people starting from redundancy points to much other than if they are getting contracts, agents will be rubbing their hands and paying them low rates.

Quite a few jobs about, but more people. Outcome = rates down unfortunately.

Well the good news is I have a very good telephone interview this morning so fingers crossed. The role is working away from home and for 30 quid a day less than my norm but needs must. I still dont think there's lots of roles though.

[BlasterBates]

From my perspective and the contractors who were sacked at the same time the bottom has fallen out of the market.

Banks have laid off hundreds if not thousands of IT staff and and are recruiting a handful, so there´s now intense competition outside the financial sector.

[Jase]

From my perspective and the contractors who were sacked at the same time the bottom has fallen out of the market.

Banks have laid off hundreds if not thousands of IT staff and and are recruiting a handful, so there´s now intense competition outside the financial sector.

After looking for eight weeks for my next gig, I'd agree with the above. While eight weeks is not a lot of time, availability of contracts, at my rate then leading to interview have been slim.

J.

[GB9]

After looking for eight weeks for my next gig, I'd agree with the above. While eight weeks is not a lot of time, availability of contracts, at my rate then leading to interview have been slim.

J.

About the same length of time I have been looking, and whilst not massive in the grand scale, its longer than I have ever had to look in the last 13 years. Likely outcome is lower rate and working away. Not what I had hoped after this number of years in the business.

Having said that, I do actually feel like I am having to compete for work more like a business than ever before. In the good old days you applied for a role, got interviewed a couple of days later and then started the role the next available Monday. Now gigs seem to be taking longer to arrange with quite a lot of negotiation and a sense of really having to win work. Frustrating but maybe a useful experience.

[Jase]

Having said that, I do actually feel like I am having to compete for work more like a business than ever before. In the good old days you applied for a role, got interviewed a couple of days later and then started the role the next available Monday. Now gigs seem to be taking longer to arrange with quite a lot of negotiation and a sense of really having to win work. Frustrating but maybe a useful experience.

Pretty much sums it up. Just this week I received a call for a role that I interviewed for in January asking if I was still interested. I have had to be prepared to drop my rate by up to 10%. To be fair, I have also taken six months off, so that is also a contributing factor. However, even my regular contacts are not bearing much fruit.

J.

[GB9]

Pretty much sums it up. Just this week I received a call for a role that I interviewed for in January asking if I was still interested. I have had to be prepared to drop my rate by up to 10%. To be fair, I have also taken six months off, so that is also a contributing factor. However, even my regular contacts are not bearing much fruit.

J.

Mentioned to an agent the other day that I had been looking for a couple of months and was getting a bot concerned, more about the CV than anything else. He just told me not to lose sleep over it and that there were plenty of others in the same boat.

[BlasterBates]

Absolutely, benched contractors are just piling up on the streets.