Reply to: State of the Market

[SussexSeagull]

thanks to all the contractors who let companies row back on the remote working stuff by not standing firm - seeing a lot of low grade hybrid working roles this week

100% remote as a default was never going to go on forever and frankly I think going into the office, at least part time, is healthy.

[mattster]

2) Certainly mostly 'hybrid' - how many years before that disappears completely and its 100% office? Maybe a couple more winters with no lockdowns?

I think in many cases there is a difference between reality and what is advertised. Agree 100%, "remote only" roles are thin on the ground/non-existent for proper positions now, but out of the few contractors I know in "hybrid" roles in London banks at the moment one hasn't been in since November last year and another has a day or two per month max. I myself do 4x days month at a Canary Wharf bank, negotiated down from 2x week (started on 2x month) - which is bearable (but still pointless) - but aforementioned contracting buddies think I am being hard done by.
So upshot is it depends on the gig and you likely won't start fully remote, but you might get most of the way there if you are lucky. Having some visibility into what the actual working conditions are in a particular gig would be very useful before signing up.

[mogga71]

I don't know any senior technologist picking up Jira tickets in a sprint. You may have a few years under your belt, you're not senior though.

I am a data professional of 25 years who picks up Jiras all the time. The Jiras explain what needs to be done (Eg. improving performance of a DB process) and I work out how to do it.

How do the companies you work at operate may I ask?

[mogga71]

thanks to all the contractors who let companies row back on the remote working stuff by not standing firm - seeing a lot of low grade hybrid working roles this week

My present gig is at one the major IB's at Canary Wharf. The vast majority of Contractors are still fully remote and a lot renewing in December and will still be working fully from home. Basically if management want them to come into the Office then they need to pay them more is the general consensus.

[tsmith]

1) Yes, 2) Certainly mostly 'hybrid' - how many years before that disappears completely and its 100% office? Maybe a couple more winters with no lockdowns?
3) Yes just posted that here recently - assuming its partly consolidation in SAAS industry - also M365 does ERP/Supply chain stuff - guessing with costs going up everywhere big companies think they can make savings investing in software?
4) AI replaced all the AI jobs before it even got started - saw an AI product lead role for £1200 a day recently but other than that not seen much - although according to Deloitte 52% of CEOs are looking to invest in AI to replace people errr I mean 'improve productivity' in the next 12 months

[BlueSharp]

Taken a look at the market as coming within two months of the current contract finishing

1) Not a lot out there
2) Remote only is dead
3) M365 seems to be in vogue at the moment (why?)
4) Where are all the AI jobs if it's the next big thing?

[avonleigh]

thanks to all the contractors who let companies row back on the remote working stuff by not standing firm - seeing a lot of low grade hybrid working roles this week

Sorry but this is hardly fair. An awful job market for quite a long time now means some people don't have the option of 'standing firm'.

[biergarten]

thanks to all the contractors who let companies row back on the remote working stuff by not standing firm - seeing a lot of low grade hybrid working roles this week

my impression is that the whole remote working is what is lowering the number of contracts and rates in the uk

[PCTNN]

thanks to all the contractors who let companies row back on the remote working stuff by not standing firm - seeing a lot of low grade hybrid working roles this week

Did you have any doubts?

Instead of standing firm, contractors kept their heads down and took it when the whole ir35 thing happened, why did you think they'd stand firm for something less important than that?

[PerfectStorm]

thanks to all the contractors who let companies row back on the remote working stuff by not standing firm - seeing a lot of low grade hybrid working roles this week

[PCTNN]

umI started work in 2000. My starting salary was 32k per annum

I started work in 2013 and my starting salary as a junior UX designer was 35k in a retail bank. 10 years later and the very same role at the very same bank pays 37-40k. Very depressing.

A permanent senior UX designer in the public sector client I'm currently at pays 39-43k. And then they ask themselves why nobody applies to their vacancies and so they're forced to hired contractors.

[Bluenose]

umI started work in 2000. My starting salary was 32k per annum and market was in full swing. I remember there being a contractor there on £100ph plus overtime. I have never seen that rate again.

This is where we were in 2022 for Deliotte Digital, the 2023 rate card has not been posted yet. These guys posted almost 20% in growth and about $2bn in revenue.

[GJABS]

I am not sure it is me or everyone else can see the change in the interviewing style.

1 ) 6-7 years back if they like you they will offer straightway ( sometimes you get offer before you reach home) - there was an urgency to hire asap.

2 Now even if they like they say they would like to interview more candidates and request more CVs if there aren't enough in the 1st batch who could go past 1st round.Agent says they need more candidates so they can compare and have option to chose the best one.

3) Since the person who is interviewing have not changed in last 6-7 years why can't they make decision and make an offer? Why do they wait longer to hire someone?

Any idea what is going on here?

+1
My current contract was around 4 weeks between interview and getting an offer. And then a further month doing on-boarding things. My current client is super-organised; it sometimes feels like the work required in working along with this degree of order is more work than the organisation itself saves. But logically this is unlikely to be true, as it is a large company.

[Kprad35]

I am not sure it is me or everyone else can see the change in the interviewing style.

1 ) 6-7 years back if they like you they will offer straightway ( sometimes you get offer before you reach home) - there was an urgency to hire asap.

2 Now even if they like they say they would like to interview more candidates and request more CVs if there aren't enough in the 1st batch who could go past 1st round.Agent says they need more candidates so they can compare and have option to chose the best one.

3) Since the person who is interviewing have not changed in last 6-7 years why can't they make decision and make an offer? Why do they wait longer to hire someone?

Any idea what is going on here?

[SueEllen]

GJABS you seemed to have missed all the posts in the past about people doing OU degrees for "fun" before they put the fees up.

Funnily enough I've done a few random courses that have impressed clients.

Also having interviewed people in the past someone studying or doing something random e.g. random degree, painting, fishing, ballroom dancing, boxing, pigeon fancying gives you something to talk about.