Rates

[SueEllen]

If you are accepting a rate cut of 34% you really aren't valuing your skills or your skills really aren't that great.

Probably the former.

[MercladUK]

1st role back in 1999 was £400 per day
Last few roles have been between £400 - £515

[suityou01]

First gig in 2007 was 400 pd.

Last gig was 450 pd.

Have had 500 pd.

[NickNick]

Approx rates

2005 - 350
2007 - 400
2008 - 350
2009 - 450
2011 - 450
2013 - 400
2015 - 450

[ITPRO2]

2010/2011 - 50/h
2012 - 60/h
2013 - 70/h
2014 - 95/h
2015 - 86/h

[ShandyDrinker]

I believe a typical c# developer has been on roughly £300-350 outside London since about 2002.. Rates haven't changed at all...

Depends where outside of London you are. On average I'd agree with you although I've had day rates ranging from £350-£450 for North West (2008-2012), €400-€500 for Ireland (2011-13), £330-£450 for South West (2010-2015) and £375-£550 in London (2010-2015).

Thanks guys - actual figures would be especially useful as I am comparing rates to costs - have worked out that hotel prices in London have risen about 30% between 2008-2015 and subsistence costs about 24%. Bet rates haven't gone up anywhere near that

You only have to look at itjobswatch to see what has been happening to C# rates over the years - see C# Contracts, Contractor Rates for C# Skills.

Because of this you have to be careful how you frame the argument as for example, C# rates being stagnant or declining has more to do with supply and demand and the commoditisation of this particular skillset.

If you had been working on Java and moved into Scala you would probably only have seen rates increase over this period - see Scala Contracts, Contractor Rates for Scala Skills.

Rates/demand aside, costs have definitely increased substantially in the time I've been contracting since 2008. I'd now have to think seriously if the contract required regular overnight accommodation.

[GB9]

£400 when I started in 2000, with the highest being £700.

At one point during the 'bust' in 2009 I was getting paid £5 / day more than in 2000.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I've almost doubled my rate since I started my business 6 years ago. Started off on around £300-400/day. My rate is now set at £600 although I agreed a £575 rate for a longer term project this year.

Whilst I almost never take on full time on-site work I'm considering upping my on-site rate to £625 to cover my additional travel costs as it now costs me £31 for a return ticket to London vs the £8 or so it used to cost me before I moved to Colchester.

[suityou01]

I've almost doubled my rate since I started my business 6 years ago. Started off on around £300-400/day. My rate is now set at £600 although I agreed a £575 rate for a longer term project this year.

Whilst I almost never take on full time on-site work I'm considering upping my on-site rate to £625 to cover my additional travel costs as it now costs me £31 for a return ticket to London vs the £8 or so it used to cost me before I moved to Colchester.

Not bad for a programmer, cycling or otherwise. Which programming language should I be boning up on to get these lofty rates?

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Not bad for a programmer, cycling or otherwise. Which programming language should I be boning up on to get these lofty rates?

These days, mostly iOS work.