Reply to: State of the Market

[oliverson]

The market, or lack of, continues to shock me.

In my London banking years (2007-18 mainly) I had many interviews, even in the financial crash there were plenty. I remember these times with pain, anguish but fondness. Emails with so many contract. specs attached I had to ask the agents to filter them out and send me only the ones that were a good match. Bulging .zip files of specs, the phone didn't really stop ringing. Imagine that!

After my London years, I contracted mainly in the north and/or fully remote. I'm now reflecting on the last 10 years and it's quite shocking. In that time I've had 6 different contracts with 3 different clients, 1 spell on the bench lasting 17 months over the covid period and this latest spell of 7 months and counting. In all of that time I've only landed 3 of those 6 contracts in a 10 year period. THREE. In fact, flipping from past client to past client repeatedly and I've hardly had any interviews in a decade. But the more worrying thing is the interview requests, well they've basically fallen off a cliff, especially via the old tried and tested JobServe.

If I was going into business today and walked into a bank with a business plan, given the last decade, and especially the last 5 years, well, I'm sure they'd have me escorted from the premises.

At what point will the penny drop for me that my business is no longer viable and my better days are behind me?

[dsc]

5 days a week onsite in some sort of god awful market town where there is nowhere decent to sleep isnt what I had in mind

Hey, some say Barrow-in-Furness is lovely in spring.

[willendure]

5 days a week onsite in some sort of god awful market town where there is nowhere decent to sleep isnt what I had in mind

Not even for the defence of the realm? You work shy deserter!

[Bluenose]

Hoping the news that the government has agreed to spend more on defence might present opportunities for some of us.

5 days a week onsite in some sort of god awful market town where there is nowhere decent to sleep isnt what I had in mind

[financial analyst]

Hoping the news that the government has agreed to spend more on defence might present opportunities for some of us.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2dzlrm0jno

[sadkingbilly]

A bit?

Running a tax efficient limited company wasn't enough for some of the people I worked with. They engaged in questionable tax avoidance schemes whilst bragging about their share in a light aircraft, sports car, ski holiday and that every day was bonus day.

Then they got busted.

not before f**king it up for the rest of us.
greedy barstewards.
and still a lot of them about, as can be seen from some attitudes on here.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

[TheDude]

IR35 coming in was before my time but some contractors were a bit out there with their tax affairs. I suspect that was the main reason it came in.

A bit?

Running a tax efficient limited company wasn't enough for some of the people I worked with. They engaged in questionable tax avoidance schemes whilst bragging about their share in a light aircraft, sports car, ski holiday and that every day was bonus day.

Then they got busted.

[sadkingbilly]

Aye yes - I think that is what happened as IR35 evolved under the tories. Their mates didn't like the competition so made some lovely party donations and had the problem dealt with.

Especially Sunak, that guy was as bent as a nail!

just like all Tory's

[willendure]

a cause of the legislation? - remove consultancies' competition ...

Aye yes - I think that is what happened as IR35 evolved under the tories. Their mates didn't like the competition so made some lovely party donations and had the problem dealt with.

Especially Sunak, that guy was as bent as a nail!

[willendure]

IR35 coming in was before my time but some contractors were a bit out there with their tax affairs. I suspect that was the main reason it came in.

Supposedly it was never meant to target genuine contractors such as IT contractors. There was a problem with people evading tax by incorporating in silly situations - the one I read about was a car wash where each of the "valeting contractors" who worked there had their own ltd.

Over time the law evolved to cash in on IT contractors as a juicy target. Just like Reeves is about to cash in on the entire middle class as a juicy target. Except of course it isn't cashing in so much as crashing out the entire economy. I hate Rachel Reeves, asside from being a miserable cow, she must live in some weird elitist socialist fantasy. At least Raynors socialist dreams are over!

[oliverson]

Well, I didn't get too 'attached' to Tuesday's interview but still, end of play Friday and f**, all feedback. Never used to be like this.

Well, as suspected, they went with the other candidate. Very surprised really as interviews really don't go much better than that one.

The search goes on.

[sadkingbilly]

Averse.

Achorus

[ensignia]

Averse.

[krytonsheep]

I never understood when you'd get into a place and meet a contractor who'd been there longer than most of the permies. Often permitractors who'd then say "what's IR35?"

What I saw was some kind of osmosis of permies to contractors. Permies start to see the odd contractor appearing in their company, find out there's more money to be made doing the same job, then if they're not risk averse will switch sides.

Over time there's so many contractors and contracts available, even risk averse permies start to switch sides in large numbers. In the tech industry it was also the best way to earn more without having to move to management. So it almost became a career progression. The employers would treat the contractors the same as permies, but had the benefit of being a lot easier to get rid of. No employment tribunals, sick days etc. What was happening was disguised employment hence HMRC stepping trying to clamp down on it.

[ShandyDrinker]

I think these are just excuses, or at least the next 'stages' of a calendar year when 'something' is out of the way.

Christmas, Easter, End of tax year, summer, budget, election... None of these events have offered immediate improvement in the world after their passing.

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 a cliff and rates down significantly. When people you know that have previously got contracts relatively easily are now struggling, you know something is amiss. That's before we get to comments on this thread.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is much worse than the GFC. This is worse that the downturn that was predicted post Brexit. It's worse than the lull at the start of covid.

the cause of the legislation? - permitractors.

I completely agree with this. I never understood when you'd get into a place and meet a contractor who'd been there longer than most of the permies. Often permitractors who'd then say "what's IR35?"

a cause of the legislation? - remove consultancies' competition ...

The cynical among us do believe that this had an impact, with massive conflicts of interest at play.