State of the Market

[rocktronAMP]

Well, here has been my experience.

1. Applied for 7 gigs - all last week, week ending 27 March, 2020
2. 2 came back with a positive response and interviews were scheduled.
3. For one role, I chased the recruiter who said he will follow up with another email to the client but haven't heard anything back. This was last Friday.
4. Another one, the recruiter came back with positive news last Thursday but on Tuesday came back and said that the role has been put on hold and will get back to me if it went Live (not, when it went Live)
5. Third one, there has been no response after I sent my CV to the recruiter. No response to the follow up email as well.
6. Fourth, the rate was low and inside IR35 and had to travel but I went with yeah sure. Now, the role has gone into a permanent role. :-(
7. The last one, applied for it but no response back from the agency.

There have literally been no new roles at all this week!

Wow! Magic Moves this sounds terrible.

If you have a gig (of any sort), stay in it for the next wee while (10-15 weeks for today).

Before all this COVID-19 many contractors were still looking at perm. I know this, because I interviewed for London perm roles at £80K - £90K, but they didn't come off. Two interviews for one financial client, because the firm was very picky. What has happened since in the permanent side?

I suspected that you might get better opportunities for the permanent, but maybe that time has now gone down the swanny. How on earth would you pick up a corporate laptop for working from home now? Unless the firm practices BYOD, has very good infrastructural internal security, and super onboarding of talent, then I think this avenue is difficult. Security and infrastructure guys (and gals) probably are only one working on a corporate site (with self isolation). Find the businesses that can onboard you and that can also send you a pre-built (ghosted) corporate laptop to your home address by DHL, DPD or some such.

Good luck to all you on the bench. I was there with you one month ago.

[northernladuk]

Well, here has been my experience.

1. Applied for 7 gigs - all last week, week ending 27 March, 2020
2. 2 came back with a positive response and interviews were scheduled.
3. For one role, I chased the recruiter who said he will follow up with another email to the client but haven't heard anything back. This was last Friday.
4. Another one, the recruiter came back with positive news last Thursday but on Tuesday came back and said that the role has been put on hold and will get back to me if it went Live (not, when it went Live)
5. Third one, there has been no response after I sent my CV to the recruiter. No response to the follow up email as well.
6. Fourth, the rate was low and inside IR35 and had to travel but I went with yeah sure. Now, the role has gone into a permanent role. :-(
7. The last one, applied for it but no response back from the agency.

There have literally been no new roles at all this week!

I was out between Sept and Feb. If I had a single week in all that time with 7 roles that were true fits, not chancers, I would have danced naked on the town hall steps.

0 roles IMO will be the norm. Anything over that and you should be suprised.

[CheeseSlice]

I think last week the agents and clientcos were getting used to working from home and sorting out their laptops and VPNs.
Very distracting, all posting lockdown selfies and funny videos on facebook and linkedin.
New job and contract openings still existed on paper and everything seemed like it would carry on as normal, just from the home office.
Meanwhile the CEOs, FCOs and HR managers will have been looking at the bleak reality that lies ahead, contemplating the difficult yet urgent decisions and announcements they needed to make.

This week the penny will have dropped, certainly for hiring activity. For many this is anything but a normal week, especially for recruitment agencies who operate on thin margins. Many agents will be faced with furlough or redundancy.

There are still a few jobs popping up so don't lose hope completely. These are with companies and sectors that are typically resilient during a crisis, at least for a while anyway.

[Loofah]

I'm just getting really comfy on the bench! Don't see a quick way off it but will bite the arm off any outfit wanting to set up conference interview at this point

[The Janter Effect]

I think last week the agents and clientcos were getting used to working from home and sorting out their laptops and VPNs.
Very distracting, all posting lockdown selfies and funny videos on facebook and linkedin.
New job and contract openings still existed on paper and everything seemed like it would carry on as normal, just from the home office.
Meanwhile the CEOs, FCOs and HR managers will have been looking at the bleak reality that lies ahead, contemplating the difficult yet urgent decisions and announcements they needed to make.

This week the penny will have dropped, certainly for hiring activity. For many this is anything but a normal week, especially for recruitment agencies who operate on thin margins. Many agents will be faced with furlough or redundancy.

There are still a few jobs popping up so don't lose hope completely. These are with companies and sectors that are typically resilient during a crisis, at least for a while anyway.

Yes, I can imagine the competition is going to be pretty stiff. My project was canned and my last day is tomorrow. I'm not feeling especially optimistic.

[hairymouse]

This week the penny will have dropped, certainly for hiring activity. For many this is anything but a normal week, especially for recruitment agencies who operate on thin margins. Many agents will be faced with furlough or redundancy.

My thoughts exactly. There was plenty of enthusiasm and remote roles last week, now they have all been pulled. I read a post on LinkedIn encouraging recruitment consultants who have not been furloughed to add "Still working" in their tagline so people can tell if they are worth talking to. Layoffs coming thick and fast in the BI world on LinkedIn.

[CheeseSlice]

My thoughts exactly. There was plenty of enthusiasm and remote roles last week, now they have all been pulled. I read a post on LinkedIn encouraging recruitment consultants who have not been furloughed to add "Still working" in their tagline so people can tell if they are worth talking to. Layoffs coming thick and fast in the BI world on LinkedIn.

its not my area, but I've seen a couple of BI roles this week. Its not dead.

[hairymouse]

its not my area, but I've seen a couple of BI roles this week. Its not dead.

I agree that it's not totally dead, but I think a lot of those roles are just busywork for the agents. Many have been posted repeatedly on different days.

[PerfectStorm]

That week sounds like a normal week to me!

I had weeks in August last year where nothing happened, it all bounced back in the end. All my posts from that summer are in here - feeling unwanted one day, 7 calls the nest day, rejected from interviews, silence... boom!

All part of the job

[Old Greg]

Interim COVID-19 related governemnt stuff I saw on LinkedIn if anyone is interested. Joe Pace posted on LinkedIn