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| CURRENT SECTION :: Market Reports | UK's most visited IT Contractor Site - 250k unique visitors March 2008 |
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This month’s market figures show their first fall since March this year. After months of small, successive rises – often of just 1% - average rates across the ten most commonly offered roles have begun to head in the wrong direction. This figure now sits at £29.75 per hour, from £29.89 in October. Although this is still above September’s rate of £29.47 and is also just a 1% change. It is, of course, too early to know if this marks a longer trend or simply an annual flutter; back in January, this report predicted that figures may tail off towards the end of the year. November and December can be as frustrating as July and August for out of contract IT staff. While the summer can see decisions postponed until the relevant people have all returned from their holidays, at least contractors can console themselves with decent weather. As IT departments ease down for Christmas and hold-off on new projects until the new-year, some may feel the urge to hit the egg-nog a little early. Through the year, the market for contractors in the financial sector has been volatile, but largely profitable. This has continued this month, with the average rate for advertised IT contractor roles in the financial sector reaching £29.57, up from £26.36 three months previously. The low hourly rate here may not seem compatible with the rates of many high-flying contractors in investment banking. This is likely to be because of the volume of lower level support contractors taken on by big banks. These numbers are actually based on less than 600 jobs that specify an hourly rate. Average day rates through November were £399, and may more accurately reflect that cash that can currently be earned. Of the 15,000 financial roles currently advertised, 2,500 quote specific day rates. If we look at roles based in the City – and presume they are primarily in banking – the good news is even more pronounced. Of 4,569 advertised roles in November, one third specified a day rate. This averaged out at £443 per day, up £10 from three months previously. Highams Systems are a recruitment firm that specialises in recruiting IT contractors for financial firms. Chairman Alan Howarth notes that he has, “seen the average contract term for personnel reducing, as evidenced by a higher rate of churn of contractors than previously. This may be a temporary situation but, as a result of this, although we have hit our new sales targets, our contractor numbers have remained fairly static.” A tendency towards shorter contracts can have a mixed impact. It can of course be good news for agencies, as they have more roles to fill, and so too for contractors. But the flip side is that more people are available more of the time, and this brings rates down. The New Year will show if this is to be a longer term trend. Greater focus on e-commerce and improved security are also playing a part in making City contracting profitable, and this trend is definitely mirrored in the wider contracting world. Security consultants have seen a healthy rise in rates this month. Average day rates – again these are the most commonly quoted – have gone from £398 to £427, a rise of 7%. However, it seems that it’s the top talent that is seeing the best of the extra demand for security skills. The rates for security engineers have fallen from £328 to £319 over the same period. Matt Farquharson Data source: www.itjobswatch.co.uk Nov 30, 2005 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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