Reply to: Contract Market Melting Down

[Gaz_M]

The recent recession flooded the expert market with less-expert unemployed former permies with nothing to lose.

The expert dev market has been diluted. Supply is up, demand is down.

The real experts in the market are suffering lower rates.

Very true, it's certainly got harder the past two or three years and rates haven't moved.

Plan B is the future...

[7specialgems]

In my view it has definitely got more difficult for dev contractors.

The recent recession flooded the expert market with less-expert unemployed former permies with nothing to lose.

The expert dev market has been diluted. Supply is up, demand is down.

The real experts in the market are suffering lower rates.

[adambeaton]

I have a friend who is currently "deploying" Project-Management-As-A-Service into a large UK company. He works for an Indian outsourcer.

Excellent - it will be a good source of work for me in 18 months to unhump those unfortunate companies that have bought into that bulltulip

[dmuk]

My own two cents...

There seems to have been a big surge in the supply of BAs. It feels like more permanent employees have jumped ship into contracting; and more senior change/project people have stepped down into BA roles. Therefore if your day rate hasn't changed in 7-8 years it is likely you've been promoted (or specialised) but your rate remains flat due to market conditions etc

If you are getting a rate higher than the current market average there is a higher exception for you to be specialised; or senior role. Seven years ago you'd have none of those expectations; and if you didn't like it you'd get a new role the next week. There is also the requirement for BAs to be hybrid - PM/DA/DBA...

Many recruiters/employers still don't really have a true appreciation for Business Analysis as a discipline. Bulk of roles my contract colleagues have been through their own network and not agents.

I don't think the market is in meltdown but market is certainty competitive; and rates are still depressed. Cost is a big consideration for employers and now if you half your rate expectations the number of opportunities significantly increases - but then everyone has their price. This is stating the obvious but there are so many senior roles that are paying peanuts.

And LinkedIn and other job sites may have made it easier to connect with agents and employers, however it has also increased the noise. Getting noticed is a lot harder. The agent-client model seems to have changed as well that means agents don't have the influence they use to have in getting candidates jobs. The employer holds more of the power (than they use to).

Business Analyst Search

[anonymouse]

On my last two contracts, once the initial contract has finished, I've moved to another team/project. Both roles found by the managers sending my details to other PM's looking for people. Been in this contract for 9 months, and have just started another 6 month extension.

[MicrosoftBob]

I think it helps to build relationships with agencies, I've managed to get back to back contracts continually the last five years not from any special method I've just been using an agency so long they have contracts lined up for me

Despite them generally being a pain in the proverbials, sometimes we do still need them

[Bluenose]

Rubbish! In the last two companies I worked for the BA's and architects were mainly provided by Infosys & Wipro.

And I have a friend who is currently "deploying" Project-Management-As-A-Service into a large UK company. He works for an Indian outsourcer.

Entitled to your views but in the City, end clients will bob-out these type of services for a while and then puke because said companies can't source enough staff to do these roles properly and they end-up on-shoring them again through same companies.

This type of outsourcing can be done but generally speaking they cannot be bobbed easily.

We've all seen the adverts for PM's and BA's working in the North East for £250/pd, we know they are out there but they are not able to compete in the higher-level roles because they are just not that good at it.

[CourtesyFlush]

Contracting is now a "Market for Lemons" and you should pack it in.

Agents are now incapable of matching candidates to clients, and clients are now incapable of identifying suitable candidates: they don't understand the concept of transferable skills.

The market is heavily over supplied so the agents make the hurdles higher to stem the flow.

The job specs on the boards are indicative of that.

Also, is it really likely that the only gigs going are in the very latest technologies, or are the pimps posting fairytale ads to get a fresh crop of cvs in from actively looking contractors to sell those with this latest skills to demand a higher price once the market picks up? And to also work these CVs for the previous hirers list that is their most recently vacated company?

[jjdarg]

... and clients are now incapable of identifying suitable candidates: they don't understand the concept of transferable skills.

Ain't just in contracting, either...I did put myself forward for a permie role down the road as it was close to home and my last contract was coming to an end. They interviewed 23 people for the role over several months before seeing me. I could give chapter and verse for my experience doing each one of the bullet points in the job spec. I would understand if it was for a C-level job, but they were clearly wasting shareholders' time and money (as well as mine) by making that process as painful as possible. I think the role is still open.

But they will suffer the curse...Every time I've been rejected over some specious reasoning, either the company in question goes down the pan or the department in question gets outsourced within a year.

[flipFlop]

I am not sure if I am the only screwed up bloke here. My rate hasnt increased in the last 7-8 years. Have generally been well appreciated at work. and yet contracts have become more difficult to land and now with another recession looming I am wondering if I should pack it all in and do something else, like flip burgers.

Contracting is now a "Market for Lemons" and you should pack it in.

Agents are now incapable of matching candidates to clients, and clients are now incapable of identifying suitable candidates: they don't understand the concept of transferable skills.

[tomtomagain]

ba, architecture and project management.

........ < Snip > ......

all of these areas I have listed typically cannot be offshored or, near shored by Indian outsourcers

Rubbish! In the last two companies I worked for the BA's and architects were mainly provided by Infosys & Wipro.

And I have a friend who is currently "deploying" Project-Management-As-A-Service into a large UK company. He works for an Indian outsourcer.

[Bluenose]

Offshoring was bad enough, near shoring soon followed and then, on shoring proved the nail in the coffin.

Plan B is a case of easier said than done. What to do ?

if Dev then cross train into ba, architecture and project management. it may not be ideal but if you can widen your competencies around developement work rather than pure coding you will be set. either that or move into computer games.


all of these areas I have listed typically cannot be offshored or, near shored by Indian outsourcers and you will instead competing with a much smaller talent pool in the EU.

[afrocentric]

Offshoring was bad enough, near shoring soon followed and then, on shoring proved the nail in the coffin.

Plan B is a case of easier said than done. What to do ?

[Bluenose]

In the city of London, I can only say what I see, there were a ton of ba contracts going during 2009-2012. a lot of the business process change work has gone though leaving a glut benched.

developers have been subject to consultancies sucking up the slack and a lot of Dev contracting roles used to be advertised by hedge funds. now they have all blown up and the banks have shifted 90% of Dev to India it's basically killed the market.

in this game what you need now is a skill which is niche and one to fall back on which pays less but has a lot of contracts available even during a downturn.

in terms of what I have experienced, after four years of downtick, rates are starting to head north and I am optimistic about 2015.

[Lewis]

If clients wait 4 weeks, then start looking 6 weeks before the end of your gig.

Personally I don't look whilst in a contract. I always like to have some time off anyway and it's inconvenient to interview whilst working. It's not all doom and gloom. It's never taken me longer than around 4 weeks from starting to look to being on site and I still love contracting as much as I did when I started