Options For Contractors

[Lance]

Clients do not engage contractors on a mutually beneficial arrangement, but on what works for them. Unless there is a reason why they need to make an early determination, they won't. Many will realise sometime Feb/Mar next year that they have to make a determination and will say their contractors are inside.

Its up to individual contractors to assess their position and ensure they mitigate their own risk.

yep..This.

If anything clients are wiser about IR35 than they were a year or two ago. And that means they aren't interested in the slightest about contractors' tax issues. I've never seen a role advertised outside IR35 except for public sector anyway so I'm not sure I understand the surprise.

[edison]

yep..This.

If anything clients are wiser about IR35 than they were a year or two ago. And that means they aren't interested in the slightest about contractors' tax issues. I've never seen a role advertised outside IR35 except for public sector anyway so I'm not sure I understand the surprise.

I've been seeing a small number of private sector gigs listed as inside over the last two weeks.

[Jolie]

I really wish people would stop saying things like this. There is no single market <insert Brexit analogy here> - there are multiple markets covering multiple skills across multiple regions. Whilst the market may have tanked for a Tester in Taunton, it might be buoyant for a BA in Brechin.

Completely agree, especially with skills. The more niche your skill, the more likely your existing client will agree to your contract being outside. For new gigs, its more likely that the agents will be contacting you, but you may need to travel.

I have recently turned down SC public sector gigs that were advertised without a status, but were obviously inside because of the inflated day rate.

In a way, this is going to determine those who don't need to be contracting, but do so for <insert-reason-here>, because there's sufficient demand in the perm market to fill the role, or people snap up the gig on an inside basis through a brollie.

Those who are niche enough to be considered too important to lose are going to gain from this, because clients will have to increase rates even more to keep them, but assured an outside status.

What I am interested in is how clients will seek contractors in the future, as I cannot see agents surviving. Will we see more direct adverts on Jobserve from companies seeking contractors?

[edison]

Completely agree, especially with skills. The more niche your skill, the more likely your existing client will agree to your contract being outside. For new gigs, its more likely that the agents will be contacting you, but you may need to travel.

I have recently turned down SC public sector gigs that were advertised without a status, but were obviously inside because of the inflated day rate.

In a way, this is going to determine those who don't need to be contracting, but do so for <insert-reason-here>, because there's sufficient demand in the perm market to fill the role, or people snap up the gig on an inside basis through a brollie.

Those who are niche enough to be considered too important to lose are going to gain from this, because clients will have to increase rates even more to keep them, but assured an outside status.

What I am interested in is how clients will seek contractors in the future, as I cannot see agents surviving. Will we see more direct adverts on Jobserve from companies seeking contractors?

I've made this point many times about there being lots of market segments. If you've got skills in cyber security, AI, big data analytics etc then you are very likely to find it easier to get a role than if you are a fairly bog standard BA/PM/whatever. At my last client (a big FTSE100 company) it was hard to attract and retain certain security roles. The market worth of these people is rising much faster than most other market segments.

I think it's very unlikely that organisations will want to contract directly with contractors. Maintaining an arms length relationship is one of the main reasons they use an agency in the first place. There will be some exceptions but not many. I can't see a big bank contracting directly with hundreds or thousands of individuals.