Reply to: 15% rate cut.

[NotAllThere]

Off topic posts fueled by a 7 year old video on what was then Twitter.

Other posts were subject to death due to an attempt to move them to General.

[dsc]

I was explaining this to the Mrs and kids the other day too. Even my perm salary in 2003 was close to £90k gross. A 3-bed semi house in our area back then was £150k .... it's now £600k. On my 2004 contract rate I could have bought a house every year

Interest rates were reasonable. The £ was strong. Prices of goods and services were OK too. Those years were our Goldilocks moment - and we didn't even know it.

As the saying goes: hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Cheap times are long gone, salaries seem to be completely stagnant in the UK for some reason, even though the gov is reporting salary increases, but I have no idea which industry this is in (and how big they are, as wherever I look it seems to be the same rates as 10 years ago). Just shows how crazy high rates were 10 years ago, or how crazy tulip they are now. Lack of opportunities definitely isn't helping here either.

[northernladuk]

I was explaining this to the Mrs and kids the other day too. Even my perm salary in 2003 was close to £90k gross. A 3-bed semi house in our area back then was £150k .... it's now £600k. On my 2004 contract rate I could have bought a house every year

Interest rates were reasonable. The £ was strong. Prices of goods and services were OK too. Those years were our Goldilocks moment - and we didn't even know it.

As the saying goes: hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I can give you some foresight then. In 2043 you will be looking back at 2023 saying how bloody cushy you had it and you had no idea. You heard it here first.

[ChimpMaster]

I didn't realise it at the time but back in 2004 and into my second contract, the £ 450 / day (outside) in Leeds and with zero expenses, was the highest rate I would ever be on in real terms.

According to the Bank of England inflation calculator https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/mone...ion-calculator, that would equate to around £ 776 / day as of October 2023. That's about £ 170 more than I'm on right now, almost 20 years later!!!

Then there's the lack of dividend tax, higher tax allowances, a few grand on the Flat Rate VAT scheme, property prices, cost of living, etc. My god, those were the days!!

I was explaining this to the Mrs and kids the other day too. Even my perm salary in 2003 was close to £90k gross. A 3-bed semi house in our area back then was £150k .... it's now £600k. On my 2004 contract rate I could have bought a house every year

Interest rates were reasonable. The £ was strong. Prices of goods and services were OK too. Those years were our Goldilocks moment - and we didn't even know it.

As the saying goes: hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[oliverson]

Absolutely the worst of all worlds right now. Was offered interview at a London bank for £650/day but inside, so turned it down. That's the rate I was being paid in London back in 2004! (and outside IR35)

P.S. I'm no longer a contractor but wanting to jump back in.

I didn't realise it at the time but back in 2004 and into my second contract, the £ 450 / day (outside) in Leeds and with zero expenses, was the highest rate I would ever be on in real terms.

According to the Bank of England inflation calculator https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/mone...ion-calculator, that would equate to around £ 776 / day as of October 2023. That's about £ 170 more than I'm on right now, almost 20 years later!!!

Then there's the lack of dividend tax, higher tax allowances, a few grand on the Flat Rate VAT scheme, property prices, cost of living, etc. My god, those were the days!!

[ChimpMaster]

Inflation has gone up and day rates gone down. Same role I did in 2021 £650 outside, now advertised for £500 inside.

Absolutely the worst of all worlds right now. Was offered interview at a London bank for £650/day but inside, so turned it down. That's the rate I was being paid in London back in 2004! (and outside IR35)

P.S. I'm no longer a contractor but wanting to jump back in.

[Eirikur]

Inflation has gone up and day rates gone down. Same role I did in 2021 £650 outside, now advertised for £500 inside.

[NotAllThere]

When he says 500 to 415 outside, he's talking about the target number of copies of big issue he sells outside Asda while imagining his fantasy world.

Target? But what were the actuals?

[WTFH]

By the same client, or you mean you found a different better paid contract?

When he says 500 to 415 outside, he's talking about the target number of copies of big issue he sells outside Asda while imagining his fantasy world.

[Snooky]

Been offered rate from 500 to 415 outside. Was very displeased by it but took it anyway. Got offered more after few weeks passively posting crap on linkedin

By the same client, or you mean you found a different better paid contract?

[GitMaster69]

Been offered rate from 500 to 415 outside. Was very displeased by it but took it anyway. Got offered more after few weeks passively posting crap on linkedin

[TheDude]

Take it and start looking for something else.

If/when you resign explain to your manager that the rate cut prompted your decision.

[dsc]

How easy is it for you to find another role? Have you searched recently? The market is grim but you might have some niche skills that go against the grain, so perhaps not all is lost. If you have nothing else lined up ready to walk into I'd say contest it nicely and if they say no-go, accept.

[GJABS]

Only 15% cut? You're lucky it isn't more, in this market.

[northernladuk]

Forget what you used to earn. That's irrelevant. They will chop and change their rates to suit the market and other things over time so hanging on to comparisons from previous engagements isn't going to help.

So the situation is you've come to the end of a piece of work for £X and the new piece of work is £X -15%? Not uncommon. Roger Sinclair from Ergos was is used to track rate cuts and they were a lot more common than you think. I can't actually find the page now so maybe they've taken them down.

The only way you are going to challenge this is to be prepared to walk. If you complain and ask you'll never get. Tell them you want the same or you are off and if they say no hand your notice in there and then. Anything else isn't going to make a blind bit of difference.