Reply to: State of the Market

[ladymuck]

I don't have a warchest. I have invested wisely which returns, living expenses.

Just finished year 2 on the bench. I am a lot fitter now though Life is too short to worry.

Even if I knew my living expenses were covered, I couldn't spend 2 years on the bench. I'd have to do something, anything. Not because I'd worry about the time spent out of work but just simply for a reason to get out of bed in the morning and not spend my days watching Homes Under the Hammer.

[rocktronAMP]

For people asking, if my current skills are relevant, this is what I can do:

Java Dev
Node.js Dev
C# Dev
VB.net Dev
VB6 Dev (yes, really!)
SQL
Postgre
MySQL
Episerver/opitmizely

Current SC runs out 2034

Live and work in London, would prefer office based based but really don't mind TBF.

I don't have a warchest. I have invested wisely which returns, living expenses.

Just finished year 2 on the bench. I am a lot fitter now though Life is too short to worry.

Perhaps reorder into relevance of client interest.

Read back-end staff engineer. List the versions. Java 25 (just released September 2025), 21 (previous LTS - long term release September 2023) or Java 8 (released 2013)

Ditto with C# (what version of C#, dot Net? Do you know Microsoft's public cloud offering, Azure? If yes you do, then advertise it!)

PostgreSQL and MySQL before generic SQL, in fact dump SQL, because former two means you know it.

Episerver / Optimizely move that to the top of skills list, especially if it is niche that certain clients value.

[avonleigh]

For people asking, if my current skills are relevant, this is what I can do:

Java Dev
Node.js Dev
C# Dev
VB.net Dev
VB6 Dev (yes, really!)
SQL
Postgre
MySQL
Episerver/opitmizely

Current SC runs out 2034

Live and work in London, would prefer office based based but really don't mind TBF.

I don't have a warchest. I have invested wisely which returns, living expenses.

Just finished year 2 on the bench. I am a lot fitter now though Life is too short to worry.

Your SC clearance is useless though unfortunately as you haven't used it within the last 12 months.

[courtg9000]

Sadly I lack the Kotlin/Springboot experience.

This one has JLR written all over it

[oliverson]

great! - you've finally found your dream job.

Sadly I lack the Kotlin/Springboot experience.

[sadkingbilly]

How low can you go?!

I'm definitely 'going to Coventry' on this one!

Sofware Engineer

Coventry - £250 - £300 per day
ContractPosted by: Oscar Associates Ltd
Posted: Saturday, 11 October 2025
Apply



See more jobs like this
Applicants who require a work visa considered

Software Engineer (Angular/Kotlin/Springboot) | 6 Month Contract (OIR35) | Hybrid

We're looking for a Full Stack Software Engineer to play a key role in developing and evolving a suite of high-performance applications. You'll be working across the entire technology stack, from dynamic, user-friendly web interfaces to robust, scalable Back End microservices - helping to deliver impactful releases in an agile, four-week sprint cycle.

Location: Coventry (2 days onsite)

Contract: 6 months (OIR35)

Rate: £250-300 p/day

Start date: ASAP

great! - you've finally found your dream job.

[oliverson]

How low can you go?!

I'm definitely 'going to Coventry' on this one!

Sofware Engineer

Coventry - £250 - £300 per day
ContractPosted by: Oscar Associates Ltd
Posted: Saturday, 11 October 2025
Apply



See more jobs like this
Applicants who require a work visa considered

Software Engineer (Angular/Kotlin/Springboot) | 6 Month Contract (OIR35) | Hybrid

We're looking for a Full Stack Software Engineer to play a key role in developing and evolving a suite of high-performance applications. You'll be working across the entire technology stack, from dynamic, user-friendly web interfaces to robust, scalable Back End microservices - helping to deliver impactful releases in an agile, four-week sprint cycle.

Location: Coventry (2 days onsite)

Contract: 6 months (OIR35)

Rate: £250-300 p/day

Start date: ASAP

[oliverson]

now the 'state of the market' thread has become the 'state of the supermarket' thread.

it just gets better and better

Ha ha ha .

Nice one :-D

[Fraidycat]

I have invested wisely which returns, living expenses.

A year ago you posted on here that you missed a mortgage payment But now you are Warren Buffett

[SchumiStars]

For people asking, if my current skills are relevant, this is what I can do:

Java Dev
Node.js Dev
C# Dev
VB.net Dev
VB6 Dev (yes, really!)
SQL
Postgre
MySQL
Episerver/opitmizely

Current SC runs out 2034

Live and work in London, would prefer office based based but really don't mind TBF.

I don't have a warchest. I have invested wisely which returns, living expenses.

Just finished year 2 on the bench. I am a lot fitter now though Life is too short to worry.

[Protagoras]

now the 'state of the market' thread has become the 'state of the supermarket' thread.

it just gets better and better

Common factor: government policy. Specifically, so-called "National Insurance.

[Protagoras]

I don't have any such issues when sending the butler out to collect comestibles from F&M

Blimey, your butler fetches shopping? Most would be above that.

My parents's butler wouldn't have been seen undertaking such menial duties. He'd either have required delivery or perhaps sent a footman with the driver if really urgent.

[ladymuck]

now the 'state of the market' thread has become the 'state of the supermarket' thread.

it just gets better and better

I don't have any such issues when sending the butler out to collect comestibles from F&M

[sadkingbilly]

now the 'state of the market' thread has become the 'state of the supermarket' thread.

it just gets better and better

[Manic]

Most retailers dont employ very many staff at all these days, my local Tesco seems to run on about a third of the staff since self checkout tills arrived.

According to the latest report by the ONS there were 2.76m jobs in retail in March 2025. The four-quarter average, which smooths out the seasonal variations in hiring, was 2.80m jobs in March 2025, 93,000 fewer than at the same point last year, and 364,000 fewer than in 2015.

On a four-quarter average there were 1.30m full-time and 1.50m part-time jobs. The number of full-time jobs is down 117,000 on a decade ago. Meanwhile, the number of part-time jobs is down 246,000 over the same period.



Commenting on these figures, Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive at the British Retail Consortium, said:

“Retail jobs have continued to fall, with 364,000 fewer jobs than ten years ago. More jobs have been lost in retail in a decade than exist across the whole of the fishing, car manufacture and steel-making industries combined. And while factory closures have quickly been met by promises of action, this wave of retail jobs losses appears to go unnoticed by government.

They employ loads, I didn't say they gave them all lots of hours. In fact the opposite, they run on a skeleton staff with short shifts (so they don't have to pay breaks).