HMRC Double Standards

[DotasScandal]

1. Why are the clients not pitching in to lobbying the Government about the damage that reducing the flexible workforce will do?

2. If there are people prepared to take a lower rate for the job, who are likely to be de facto employees, will more experienced contractors either leave, accept a lower figure or go permie?

Speaking from own experience:

1. Blissful unawareness and increasing blind reliance on outsourcing (with little regard for quality)

2. The stronger contractors (the ones with in-demand skills and who keep up-to-date with their industry) will leave. One factor is that it is a wide world out there. It used to be fairly uncommon to have City of London contractors seek contract work outside the UK - not so anymore since the (very) rough patch of 2009. Better contractors easily move under friendlier skies (often with family).
They are immediately replaced by cheaper imports so the transfer is not apparent right away.
Quality suffers, but that's only visible in the medium term.

[creativity]

Speaking from own experience:

1. Blissful unawareness and increasing blind reliance on outsourcing (with little regard for quality)

2. The stronger contractors (the ones with in-demand skills and who keep up-to-date with their industry) will leave. One factor is that it is a wide world out there. It used to be fairly uncommon to have City of London contractors seek contract work outside the UK - not so anymore since the (very) rough patch of 2009. Better contractors easily move under friendlier skies (often with family).
They are immediately replaced by cheaper imports so the transfer is not apparent right away.
Quality suffers, but that's only visible in the medium term.

Yes I agree. I have seen a drop off in good quality technical engineers since around 2012, a lot of the highly qualified and experienced engineers have gone to be replaced with cheaper Southern European Engineers - who are happy to come to the UK as they have few job prospects where they live.
So two affects causing good engineers to leave; one is rates dropped due to European influx and two government crackdown on limited companies.
Their replacements are inferior - in language and technical ability, this will have a detrimental effect on Engineeeing in the UK and I have seen examples already.
Personally speaking I have started the process to move abroad (and I am permanent staff) as the quality I am dealing with day to day is worsening.

[LandRover]

Yes I agree. I have seen a drop off in good quality technical engineers since around 2012, a lot of the highly qualified and experienced engineers have gone to be replaced with cheaper Southern European Engineers - who are happy to come to the UK as they have few job prospects where they live.
So two affects causing good engineers to leave; one is rates dropped due to European influx and two government crackdown on limited companies.
Their replacements are inferior - in language and technical ability, this will have a detrimental effect on Engineeeing in the UK and I have seen examples already.
Personally speaking I have started the process to move abroad (and I am permanent staff) as the quality I am dealing with day to day is worsening.

Complete agreement. The language is a problem and potentially health & Safety issue, I experience similar problems daily.

The young are not getting training either, company managers are simply thinking cheap EU workers are good enough, reality is different. How the young in this country think staying in EU is any good for them is beyond me. They are literally signing away their prospects by voting to not to leave.