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| CURRENT SECTION :: Market Reports | UK's most visited IT Contractor Site - 250k unique visitors March 2008 |
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For the past two months we have reported rises in contractor rates, reversing the worrying trend of late spring. This has continued throughout August, though at a much reduced pace. June and July saw jumps of 19% and 5% respectively in the average rate quoted for the profession’s ten most commonly requested contracting job titles. This rate is now £34.70, a tiny increase on the £34.56 of last month that suggests the excess demand noticed over the early summer has passed. But, given that May saw rates as low as £27.60, a little stability should be taken as an encouraging sign. Summer can see contractor rates pick up, as short deals are done at bumped up rates to cover permies absent on annual leave. And as budget holders are anxious to get to the beach or golf course, a flurry of activity can see healthy business for contractors. This year appears to have been no different. Continuous trends have been hard to spot this year, and this may mark the beginning of a period of stability. One area that continues to show a magnified version of general trends is SAP. Last month the generic "SAP consultant" climbed up to £67.60, an 11% increase on the month before, which had been a 12% increase on May. This month, the average SAP consultant can command £68.40 an hour - a minimal rise of just over 1%. This year was predicted by many to be a good one for SAP contractors, and rates have consistently outperformed the market average. It has been a particularly good year for those that know SAP BW. Day rates have leapt by more than 26% on the same point last year, from £373 to £473. This makes it one of the most improved SAP modules. This is particularly noteworthy given the relative number of BW jobs around. Big jumps for more obscure modules are not uncommon, but BW is quoted in more than 1,000 of the 100,000 jobs analysed. Also worth a mention is the climb of SAP Basis, from £409 to £505, mentioned in half as many ads, but seeing a rise of almost a quarter. The telecomms arena has more closely matched broader market averages. It has seen the worst of the dips earlier in the year and rises since. A minor, but interesting market here is for those with "handset" related skills. The peaks and troughs here are sharp, but the broad trend is upwards. Average day rates for those with such skills have jumped more than 40% from £230 to £324 in the last 12 months. The ongoing woes of the governments NHS IT systems make this a relatively profitable sector for general contractors. But while rates are rising, they are rising at the bottom end. IT contract roles in the NHS account for 1% of all those analysed and hourly rates have risen by almost 9% in the last year. However, this still takes them to just £18.02 per hour. Contract “programme management” jobs also reflect, and often lead, the market. Analysis of programme directors is of less value, because so few contract roles exist - they account for just 50 jobs in our sample - or 0.05% of the total. Once programme managers are in place, spending follows. Rates have generally increased as the volume of ongoing projects continues, rising from £479 to £519 in the last year. But, in what might be a concerning trend for the rest of the contracting world, this figure is actually a slight drop on last month. If rates for programme managers are beginning to drop as programmes end, those for the rest may follow. Matt Farquharson Data source: www.itjobswatch.co.uk Aug 30, 2006 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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