Lack of software engineering talent 'could derail London’s Tech City'

[AtW]

Why do contractors get work?

We do use contractors.

At high rate too. But it is the appropriate use of contractors. As you'd expect of SKA Ltd.

HTH

[aussielong]

There's a startup next door. The CEO is 30, all his staff are younger, and he pays just over half what they could probably get in the financial institutions here. They are probably doing much more interesting stuff though.

That's a young mans game. Once they become a bit jaded by failures that are completely out of their hands, they will go for the coin in order to be the person who has started the company.

[aussielong]

Experienced people are very important for startups, but if you start paying them £500 per day you'd go bankrupt pretty quickly.

If they are really top end, you would cut them in with a share of the company wouldn't you?

[doodab]

I think the idea is that the experienced and expert £500/day people should be among those starting these companies. I suspect it's not just a lack of available staff that dissuades people from doing this, but also the other costs and insane levels of bureaucracy associated with any non-trivial business activities in the UK.

I have spoken to a few friends about this, and most people earning good contractor money simply cannot be arsed with the hassle of scaling up beyond a one man operation.

[TiroFijo]

Well you will get them but they will leave sharpish when they work out you are under paying them.

Why do contractors get work?
.

If someone took a 25k job then they would be really desperate and you can bet that they would searching (and would get) a higher paying job after starting your crappy slave wage gig. You would find it hard to get them and impossible to keep them.

[2BIT]

£20-25K per year for someone with 2 years experience to live in London.

this is a joke yeah?!?

[DimPrawn]

this is a joke yeah?!?

£25K in Tottenham is a good wage.

Plenty of houses and flats for sale there too.

Pick up a bargain!

[shaunbhoy]

£25K in Tottenham is a good wage.

Plenty of trainers and flatscreens for sale there too.

Pick up a bargain!

FTFY

[PAH]

I have spoken to a few friends about this, and most people earning good contractor money simply cannot be arsed with the hassle of scaling up beyond a one man operation.

Yep. Employing people is a pain in the ass for many reasons.

My Plan B will involve only the three people I want to work with: Me, Myself, and I.

[craig1]

Bit of a lazy article really:

"While China and India create hundreds of thousands of new engineers each year, the UK struggles to produce 20,000. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics reveal that nearly one million 16-24 year-olds are out of work as our skills base and educational system remains focused on a manufacturing economy that’s no longer fit for purpose. "

China - 1,350,000,000 people (21.6 x UK population)
India - 1,210,000,000 people (19.4 x UK population
UK - 62,500,000 people

So, if you pro-rate the UK's engineering production of 20,000 then you'd get 432,000 and 388,000 respectively to get a similar proportion of the population. So, them producing hundreds of thousands each year is about right...