Is UK IT doomed

[lilelvis2000]

Just wondering what the thoughts of the readership on this were.

Are we facing an end to UK contracting, and if so how long do we have.

Also what are the plans of the readers in changing career?

Already spilling red ink. With no employment opportunities - I'm just sticking it out hopefull for a turn around. Got a software idea and have applied for grants. If those don't come through then its quits.

Plan B is me moving into paralegal area and working with wife's business - with perhaps a move into auto mechanics/restoration. Something I've always been interested in.

[lilelvis2000]

I don't think that IT contracting will end completely but it will change to short-term specialist skills and there will be much less of it.

The advances that we have seen in worldwide connectivity over the past decade have meant that there are ever fewer barriers to getting work done more cheaply in a low cost location.

There is no way that you are going to stop companies taking advantage of that so you had better accept it and change or end up like the 2nd or 3rd generation unemployed in the former industrial parts of England and Wales.

I've read the book "Free" by Anderson...and its clear that the advances in the internet have led to the decline of IT jobs in North America and Europe - in favour of cheaper areas. The majority of large (Steria et al) IT shops in the UK are nothing more than shop fronts with perhaps a bit of onsite techies to replace motherboards etc.. - the real work is all done off shore.

Have we caused our own demise?

[DimPrawn]

AtW is looking for hard working IT experts to join his rapidly expanding business.

[sweetandsour]

Have we caused our own demise?

No. It was always going to happen but that is not really a bad thing.

When my parents were children a Television Set was an unimaginable luxury that they could not afford. Now they are cheap because the technology is more efficient and they are manufactured in a low cost location.

The same thing is happening to the work that we do. Its a pain in the arse for us but better for everyone else in the long term.

[singhr]

Soon we'll be like Cornish tin miners or Welsh Coal miners working in their heritage visitor centers entertaining tourists and schoolchildren. We will sit around pretending to work (pretty much what I do all day already) and saying things like 'now children, imagine it's a minute before Y2K and all is quiet in the office....'

[SorenLorensen]

I reckon IT contracting as we know it will be dead within 5 years. The next few years will see a steady decrease in the number of available contracts and the rates available. Contracting will still be around only for those that specialise, the ten-a-penny guys who do the likes of .NET development will be the ones worst hit. IMO, of course!

[swamp]

Public sector IT projects will be easy targets to save money. This country just can't afford big fancy databases any more, not with the IMF threatening to bankrupt us.

On the bright side the EU is bringing out ever more restrictive employment law, so contractors will always be an attractive option for some.

[ThomasSoerensen]

Where I'm working they're all German except for me

I'm with German, Czech, Indian, Brazillian, Rumanian, English, Turkish, French-Congolese and Danish (myself) in a team of 9. Nice and diverse. Good opportunity for my English to be reduced to common-broken-English-spoken-by-all.

[lilelvis2000]

Dont know why, but SRV's Crossfire has popped into my head.

[juststarting]

2 The English language used to be our advantage but now it's becoming
our disadvantage. The French do not put up with my bad French but
we put up with foreigners speaking bad English.

Can you give some examples of putting up with foreigners , please ? ( sorry if off topic )