Reply to: State of the Market

[hobnob]

It's way below the contractor rate, or perm salary I would really go for, it's in the low £30's. Be onsite for initial on-boarding for a few weeks then 2 days on-site, with a 1.5hour drive each way.

The key question is whether it's enough for you to live off. If it will pay the bills then take it; if it's going to put you further into debt then I'd be more hesitant. (I did consider a "slow puncture" rate when I was desperate, but fortunately I found something better just in time.)

[Fraidycat]

Explaining if & when I decide to move on "why I took a low pay & lower skillset job" conversation with agencies and potential clients.

When applying for the next job always spin the last job and big it up, nobody knows exactly what you did in the last role or how much you got paid.

[Paracelsus]

Y axis looks to be dual-purpose and mean either interest rate (blue) or months from start of rate rises to recession (black bars)

[rocktronAMP]

Typically around 18 months from the start of the hiking cycle is when the recession gets underway. Which is around now.

What does the y-axis mean?
Why are there black vertical bars along the x-axis time with a count number?

[pjt]

Thanks for eveyones previous remarks.

So, after slogging for applying for numerous roles, I got a hit for a perm role. It's not ideal as its a role I did 20 years ago and its the only real offer I've got since being benched.

It's way below the contractor rate, or perm salary I would really go for, it's in the low £30's. Be onsite for initial on-boarding for a few weeks then 2 days on-site, with a 1.5hour drive each way.

Upside
Keep my toes dipped in IT until market picks
Have some money coming in even if it is tuppence.
Refresh basic IT support skillset

Downside
Low pay
Initial commute
Explaining if & when I decide to move on "why I took a low pay & lower skillset job" conversation with agencies and potential clients.

Appreciate what the forum thinks on this?

A wage is a wage. If you need to take it then you need to take it. Just keep looking and for now I'd just leave this one off the CV. If it lasts a long time then you will just need to come clean and expain the reason you took the role was the market was difficult.

[gables]

Thanks for eveyones previous remarks.

So, after slogging for applying for numerous roles, I got a hit for a perm role. It's not ideal as its a role I did 20 years ago and its the only real offer I've got since being benched.

It's way below the contractor rate, or perm salary I would really go for, it's in the low £30's. Be onsite for initial on-boarding for a few weeks then 2 days on-site, with a 1.5hour drive each way.

Upside
Keep my toes dipped in IT until market picks
Have some money coming in even if it is tuppence.
Refresh basic IT support skillset

Downside
Low pay
Initial commute
Explaining if & when I decide to move on "why I took a low pay & lower skillset job" conversation with agencies and potential clients.

Appreciate what the forum thinks on this?

Well, you did say you were running on fumes, so needs must.

[umeshk]

I've been benched for almost 5 months now, running on fumes now financially. I've been on a couple of permie interviews, but trying to explain why I want to go back to perm role after contracting seems to be a hurdle I'm not able to get over. I've even got to a point I'm going for perm roles with salaries when I first started in IT in my early 20's. Is that a mistake, or should I just take it on the chin, take the role to atleast have income?

Thanks for eveyones previous remarks.

So, after slogging for applying for numerous roles, I got a hit for a perm role. It's not ideal as its a role I did 20 years ago and its the only real offer I've got since being benched.

It's way below the contractor rate, or perm salary I would really go for, it's in the low £30's. Be onsite for initial on-boarding for a few weeks then 2 days on-site, with a 1.5hour drive each way.

Upside
Keep my toes dipped in IT until market picks
Have some money coming in even if it is tuppence.
Refresh basic IT support skillset

Downside
Low pay
Initial commute
Explaining if & when I decide to move on "why I took a low pay & lower skillset job" conversation with agencies and potential clients.

Appreciate what the forum thinks on this?

[edison]

If the minimum wage being was not in effect, i'm sure that role would be offered sub £10 ph today..

Self stacking now pays over12ph and over 13ph within the M25. No english or eduction required.

It's such a shame really. It seems like it was only a few years ago that Service Desk Analyst still seemed to be a classic entry route into IT for the young and/or inexperienced. I've worked at several firms where they had good apprenticeship or other training schemes to develop such people.

Now firms only seem to care about short term results and development and training opportunities are so sparse.

[Fraidycat]

Just seen a Service Desk Analyst role at £11.80ph PAYE advertised by Hays. That equates to £88.50 for a typical 7.5 hour working day
Must have security clearance too!

If the minimum wage was not in effect, i'm sure that role would be offered sub £10 ph today..

Self stacking now pays over 12ph and over 13ph within the M25. No english or eduction required.

[agentzero]

I wasn't contracting around the time of the dot com bust around 2000-02 or the financial crisis around 07-09 but I think the UK market can definitely get significantly worse. Some key economic indicators are still relatively healthy e.g. employment and house prices.

When these likely start to fall in the wake of rising interest rates, I think consumer confidence will take a hit again and take business investment down with it.

I just don't see any significant catalysts on the horizon for companies to want to increase current investment in IT projects.

I was contracting through those eras.

All the signs are here of recession. TO LET and TO LEASE signs everywhere on commercial property, lack of contract roles, house prices down for consecutive months. There is always a lag, but with AI the only thing keeping the S&P500 driving upwards with hype, I think everything is very precarious at the minute.

[rocktronAMP]

We haven't seen the worst of it yet.
There is supposedly a long lag between interest rate hikes and the effect they have on the economy.
It wont be until 2025 that the economy feels the full effect of 5% interest rates.
If they don't cut rates this year, we are in for more pain.

Mortgage rates have increased again https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3g8p440309o
""House prices fell in April as potential buyers continued to face pressure on affordability, according to the Nationwide."
after having fallen around Xmas 2023.
Inflation rate might also rise again by 2025.
We've have to see.

[sreed]

For any roles that can be filled by people with IT experience newly arrived from xxxxx or someone sitting in Asia, it’s a race to the bottom. There’s no two ways about it.

[edison]

Just seen a Service Desk Analyst role at £11.80ph PAYE advertised by Hays. That equates to £88.50 for a typical 7.5 hour working day

Must have security clearance too!

At this rate, contractors will be working twenty nine hours a day down the mill, and paying the mill owner for permission to come to work.

[Fraidycat]

By the same token, £600 in 2001 is £1,085 in today's money.

And it was plain Java/JSP work with custom JDBC at the back end. Really mundane stuff.

[edison]

Yeah my rate fell from around £600 a day in 2001 to £300 a day in 2002.

£300 a day felt like a pittance in comparison. But the Bank of England website says £300 a day in 2002 is the same as £535 in todays money.

By the same token, £600 in 2001 is £1,085 in today's money.