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Are Contractors Overpaid

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    Are Contractors Overpaid

    So after six months contracting I still dont get why contractors are paid the money they are

    Seriously where else in the UK can you open up a sham Ltd and start invoicing £500 a day + VAT - I just dont know

    And what amazes me more then anything is that contractors are NOT 'experts' in their fields - Sure they get stuff done and can follow orders but is nt that also what a grad fresh out of college can do??

    I might seriously be naive but can anyone RATIONALISE and justify why contractors get the rate they ask for (and how senior IT management dont look at the numbers and fall off their chairs)
    Last edited by joey122; 11 January 2010, 22:09.

    #2
    Joey, how much do you think gladiators were paid?

    They were doing it for their freedom!

    Comment


      #3
      Hilarious. What exactly is a "sham ltd"?

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by joey122 View Post
        So after six months contracting I still dont get why contractors are paid the money they are

        Seriously where else in the UK can you open up a sham Ltd and start invoicing £500 a day + VAT - I just dont know

        And what amazes me more then anything is that contractors are now 'experts' in their fields - Sure they get stuff done and can follow orders but is nt that also what a grad fresh out of college can do??

        I might seriously be naive but can anyone RATIONALISE and justify why contractors get the rate they ask for (and how senior IT management dont look at the numbers and fall off their chairs)
        10+ years in a (very) specialist niche area. Any one CAN do it, but only I have done it my way (that's not a cue for a song!). What I know and the clientco is paying for can be learnt by other people, its not rocket science, but I don't need a lengthy and costly learning curve.

        If clientco do not want to pay my rate they can try and find someone else (they'd failed for the 6 months prior to my previous contract expiring).

        EDIT

        Did I bite?
        Last edited by Coalman; 11 January 2010, 22:01. Reason: Biting when I should have told Joey to f*ck off!
        Beer
        is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
        Benjamin Franklin

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by joey122 View Post
          So after six months contracting I still dont get why contractors are paid the money they are

          Seriously where else in the UK can you open up a sham Ltd and start invoicing £500 a day + VAT - I just dont know

          And what amazes me more then anything is that contractors are now 'experts' in their fields - Sure they get stuff done and can follow orders but is nt that also what a grad fresh out of college can do??

          I might seriously be naive but can anyone RATIONALISE and justify why contractors get the rate they ask for (and how senior IT management dont look at the numbers and fall off their chairs)
          Contractors bring specialist product knowledge usually. You can't possibly have that if you are a grad since it takes years to build up.

          It's a matter of confidence that PMs have. They like to have a person in their team who has "done it all before" with tool/product XYZ. It allows them to sleep at night. They might not do much for 90% of the time but when the sh1t hits the fan, they know what to do, to keep the system up and running.

          Top-end grads can get a lot done. If they are led by a decent tech lead they can produce as good work as a bunch of senior devs.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Peoplesoft bloke View Post
            Hilarious. What exactly is a "sham ltd"?
            I think he meant Al Sham Ltd.

            Comment


              #7
              To answer your question, No. After 6 months of contracting, a contractor, your are not. Come back after you've been at it for at least 5 years and experienced the downs as well as the ups and have some inkling of all that has to be paid out to equalize with a permie. Also the £500 + sector of the market is really only a small slice of the market , but I'm sure you knew that already...

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by joey122 View Post
                how senior IT management dont look at the numbers and fall off their chairs
                because the alternative is to pay one of the big shops 3-4 times as much for a spotty grad.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Feeding the troll
                  Me, me, me...

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Peoplesoft bloke View Post
                    Hilarious. What exactly is a "sham ltd"?
                    Hmm - Lets think about that

                    One man bands working at banks for years on end - Supposedly not employees because they have a substitution clause which has yet to be invoked in 20 years of contracting

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