Reply to: Benched

[cojak]

Chin up chaps!

Thanks, ADA - appreciated...

(Been told on Friday that I'm benched from 1st Jan...)

[PAH]

I'll be hitting it in Jan though client may ask me to do 2 days a week which is nice to keep the sharks away from the door.

Move off the flood plane. Wolves are cuddlier when it's cold in cardboard city.

Scary how many are being let go, or will soon be. Has anyone landed a new gig in recent weeks, or is it a waste of time even trying at the moment?

[PRC1964]

.. as of first week in december, any guesses on when the next contract will be?

my guess:

December - nobody usually hires in december
January - traditionally slow, 2009 nothing
February - it usually picks up but by then the pound will be down with the Laos kip or Chilean Peso so unlikely unless some depts have some remains of a budget to "spend it or lose it"
March - no chance, budgets are spent
April - new year, new budgets, maybe some work might start materialising

so, given this cheerful news, what's the fashion in bench cushions these days?

Re the Chilean Peso. It's Summer over there and they they have lots of wine.

If you're benched anyway you might as well make it a Chilean one. They do very good seafood too.

[MrMark]

Sweaty bum time at our place. Everyone's been called to a company meeting; if they're working off-site they've been ordered to take a conference call. My contract finishes in Dec/Jan (a one month extension was agreed, but no pen to paper), so it's all the same to me. Some of the permies have high-cost mortgages to pay off, so you can imagine how nervous they must be.

I'm taking an optimistic view though - I reckon it's because they've been bought up by Google. Boomed!

[pleomax]

12 contractors went last Friday I will be on the bench this friday. Will leave one contractor till first week on December.

I dont mind it means there are less permies out there trying to get the same contraxcts i want.

[ace00]

.............
Actually I was thinking of maybe offering services (of the IT sort) to an NGO.I figure atleast then I'd get to travel and do my bit for society..
..

That's an ambition of mine, once I've built up a suitably large pension fund. Let us know how it goes if you do it.

We got contractor headcount reduction here, I get to stay (of course) but one of the guys is out.

[Gold Dalek]

Yes, they should all be exterminated!

EX-TER-MIN-ATE EX-TER-MIN-ATE

[Sockpuppet]

Chef, whilst on the bench, perhaps you could take on a special project - go through the CUK member list and remove all sock puppets.

I love that idea.

You would. Punish the little outcast.

I may be soft and furry but I have a really good pair of walnut nunkhucks.



Sorry to hear about the bench chef. I'll be hitting it in Jan though client may ask me to do 2 days a week which is nice to keep the sharks away from the door.

[Pondlife]

Sorry to hear Chef.

Hopefully something will turn up soon enough.

[OwlHoot]

Yes, they should all be exterminated!

Wouldn't that mean you'd have to go back to being threaded, threaded ?

[Purple Dalek]

Chef, whilst on the bench, perhaps you could take on a special project - go through the CUK member list and remove all sock puppets.

Yes, they should all be exterminated!

[TheFaQQer]

.. as of first week in december, any guesses on when the next contract will be?

my guess:

December - nobody usually hires in december
January - traditionally slow, 2009 nothing
February - it usually picks up but by then the pound will be down with the Laos kip or Chilean Peso so unlikely unless some depts have some remains of a budget to "spend it or lose it"
March - no chance, budgets are spent
April - new year, new budgets, maybe some work might start materialising

so, given this cheerful news, what's the fashion in bench cushions these days?

I was given my notice on Friday morning from someone in the project office. Team leader has said (and put in writing to the PM) that they need me to get that part of the project implemented successfully, but they want to save money...

So, I'll let you know what I'm wearing on a daily basis - much in the same way that AtW tells us about his lunch...

[chef]

Has the credit crunch affected the price of land in the various virtual worlds?

it seemd so, yes, although I haven't ever played Second Life

[Manic]

Commiserations chef

[TimberWolf]

You could always start farming gold in WoW....

Has the credit crunch affected the price of land in the various virtual worlds?