From speaking with contractors around the UK and visiting contracting forums, it appears the recession has lowered contractor rates. There has been talk of ‘green shoots of recovery’ in the contractor marketplace but this appears to be coupled with lower rates for those contracts.
Contractor UK and Shout99 have reported this trend on their websites. It appears to be across the entire contractor marketplace but with particular sectors suffering more than others. In the IT sector, there appears to be oversupply of IT contractors and not enough demand. This is pushing rates down as clients are aware there are a number of contractors competing for the one contract and therefore offering a lower rate.
Contractor UK believes there are two factors of work which are causing this. Firstly, the law of supply and demand as mentioned above and secondly the pressure to increase margins. As well as clients lowering their rates, agencies are also increasing their margin. One business manager recently told Contractor UK; “I’ve used market conditions to increase the margin I return to my employer, but I have to – we’re making less money because there are fewer roles around. We’re a business just like you guys, and we have to make money from somewhere too.”
Advice from current contractors and ex-contractors on Shout99 say how it important it is to do your research on an agency before you decide to use them. One contractor says; “Contractors should look for a ‘good’ agent (as you would look for a good estate agent when selling your house, a good solicitor, etc) and treat that agent as an investment because a good agent will be spending a lot of his/her time selling you into organisations and essentially keeping you financially afloat.”
Filed under: Contractor News | Tagged: Contractor Marketplace, Contractor UK, Contractors Rates, Lower Contract Rates, Shout99
