User Profile

[ShandyDrinker]

This very much aligns with my view and one of the reasons I'm prepared to take a permie job in the interim. I don't think anything will get any better soon. Labour have made it quite clear that they will encourage more immigration and not less, especially in relation to the H-1B crackdown in the US....

[ShandyDrinker]

I agree with all of this but the point in bold is the most important.

I've been benched for just under 3 months and will be starting the permie job bang on the 3 month mark.

My experience has been that I've had a number of interviews now, which I feel lucky to have even had,...

[ShandyDrinker]

A genuine thanks for this note and the subsequent replies too.

I've dreaded the thought of going permie again for the reasons you state. I don't like the idea of long notice periods, HR BS, reviews and so on. However, I'm genuinely willing to give it a shot and see if age has mellowed...

[ShandyDrinker]

That would potentially put you being in your early 70s unless you started contracting very young?

Regardless, I do agree with you that moaning doesn't necessarily help, but there is sheer desperation for many. The problem is that it does appear existential for a lot of people, not being...

[ShandyDrinker]

That's the thing, even if you do shift focus, it isn't enough. I've moved from more .NET and server side development to cloud (primarily Azure and AWS) and even some AI development work thrown in. It's not enough. The problem is that work has just stopped being advertised. Yes, I've tended to work in...

[ShandyDrinker]

Your posts do mark you out as being rather insufferable.

For many of us who have worked as contractors for a long time, it's f***ing hard when you've managed to land contracts for the best part of 20 years and then all of a sudden it's nigh on impossible to find work. On a personal level...

[ShandyDrinker]

To add to the misery of searching for contracts in 2025. Gee, thanks Rachel. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yjlw4n5d5o

[ShandyDrinker]

It could be a combination of any of your points... or none.

I think it's potentially much more simple and brutal:

1. Rate expectations are currently too high compared to what companies can pay by offshoring.
2. Far too many well qualified people available so the likelihood is that there will

...

[ShandyDrinker]

I am in a similar position. Ok, so I've only been working in C# and .NET since 2001 but still lots of experience. Every contract I've done has been C#. After just coming out of a 3+ year contract, it's obvious that the market has changed very much for the worse.

I've applied for over 50...

[ShandyDrinker]

I think that's a rather immature take on it. I think the majority who voted Brexit, myself included, thought that finally, the politicians will have to listen to us. Nothing could have been further from the truth. For me, it's the accountability now more than ever. I accept that Boris Johnson and...

[ShandyDrinker]

On the first paragraph in particular, I disagree about the ex-Tories quip. I've worked in many companies over the last couple of decades where there have been particular contingents from specific countries. Not to be specific on companies, but there was an insurer which has an Italian contingent,...

[ShandyDrinker]

I'm also likely to go permie. For me it would be the first time since 2008. While I don't relish the idea, given the prevalence of umbrella contracts in the current market, it's harder and harder to justify contracting if there's a strong likelihood you can be out of contract for 3-6 months, much...

[ShandyDrinker]

Your moronic decision is my ability to more easily hold the government to account. No more BS about hands being tied by the EU. If our governments screw over the British people, we can crucify them at the polls; we just have to be patient. That is why we're seeing the real-time implosion of the 2...

[ShandyDrinker]

I'd agree with that. But then if you've primarily been in the financial services sector, as it sounds like you have been, practically all contracts are now via umbrella or via agency PAYE.

For it to be suggested that in general it's 2 to 1 in favour of outside IR35 contracts. No way....

[ShandyDrinker]

Perhaps they are just excuses. I never used to have issues over the summer/school holidays in July/August when people said it would be quiet. Or Christmas. Or any other of the supposed quiet periods.

However, over the last 12-18 months in particular, I've seen that hiring has fallen off...

[ShandyDrinker]

A fair comment. Pleased that I've built a reasonable war chest over the years although don't want to burn through it while sat on the bench.

Sadly I think that until the budget is out of the way at the end of November, there's not going to be much movement.

Just got to keep...

[ShandyDrinker]

I finished my most recent contract in July. As someone who contributed to the first page of this nearly decade long thread, I think this market is significantly worse than 2008 and even during covid. There just aren't the contracts being advertised anymore.

Even though I've been contracting...