• Visitors can check out the Forum FAQ by clicking this link. You have to register before you can post: click the REGISTER link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. View our Forum Privacy Policy.
  • Want to receive the latest contracting news and advice straight to your inbox? Sign up to the ContractorUK newsletter here. Every sign up will also be entered into a draw to WIN £100 Amazon vouchers!

The end of I.T. jobs in the U.K.

Collapse
X
  •  
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    The end of I.T. jobs in the U.K.

    If this has been done already then please link to the appropriate thread.

    There is a growing consensus that office workers are getting too used to working from home. Few have gone back to offices yet and few want to return even when the Covid situation improves. This clearly has a huge impact on the surrounding economy: for example food places, pubs, shops and then the businesses that manufacture, supply and distribute to them. Eventually the businesses fail and no tax is paid to the government, so the country goes broke.

    All very foreboding.

    But I digress.

    I meant to write more specifically about IT jobs and how it feels that, not only the workers, but also the companies are getting used to the whole work from home idea. Or rather, work remotely. Which logically then becomes offshore. There is very likely to be a massive shift in office/finance/IT jobs being sent offshore, much to our detriment. We actually need to get back into the office, we need to prove our worth and we need to be there together in teams to get the job done.

    The country is feeling good for having had a nice time working at home, but there is no silver lining to this. We're heading down a very worrying path that will very likely lead to thousands of jobs being lost in the UK.

    Not sure if this has been discussed here but I'd love for someone to say that we're all worrying about nothing and things will get back to normal and improve even more afterwards.


    Interesting link and quote below, for reference.

    Young's boss defiantly keeps pubs open in 'ghostly' City - but gives a blunt warning...Go back to work - or Britain will be bankrupt by this time next year

    As a further warning for Britain's reluctant office workers, he reports that two chief executives he has spoken to this month are considering reducing costs by outsourcing payroll and IT jobs to South Africa and India if working from home becomes the norm.

    #2
    There is a leap in logic there - cost is not the only factor in offshoring there is also an amount of trading management hassle for a fixed(ish) cost.

    And employing people offshore is a real hassle so I suspect the short term will be different to what you expect.
    merely at clientco for the entertainment

    Comment


      #3
      I think offices will start to fill once the kids go back to school in September. Not everyone enjoys WFH.
      "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
      - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

      Comment


        #4
        I have not read such servilistic post in quite a while.

        Do you seriously think that all it takes is to kindle a desire for a master servant relationship, to ensure the client thinks the job won't be done if it won't be supervised in person at all times?

        That ship has sailed. Nobody is going to come back to office unless to realise some eccentric fantasy of watching in person how people work hard (or pretend they are busy working). If that's what turns on some managers, they will insist on people coming back to office, but that's not economical.

        Current situation is not a threat but opportunity.

        For instance, the whole issue of contractors being subject to employee and employer taxes may no longer be relevant for many, because you'll be free to move to Bahamas (and obtain a tax residency) and do your projects from a beach and nobody will care that you enjoy some sunshine as long as the work is done and you dial in to the meetings.
        You may not get the same rate as the competition will be with the entire world, so it's good to focus on self-improvement instead of moaning.

        Only losers in this situation are people who organised their life to be tied to specific place, as they'll be punished by excessive taxes for doing so.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by elsergiovolador View Post
          I have not read such servilistic post in quite a while.

          Do you seriously think that all it takes is to kindle a desire for a master servant relationship, to ensure the client thinks the job won't be done if it won't be supervised in person at all times?

          That ship has sailed. Nobody is going to come back to office unless to realise some eccentric fantasy of watching in person how people work hard (or pretend they are busy working). If that's what turns on some managers, they will insist on people coming back to office, but that's not economical.

          Current situation is not a threat but opportunity.

          For instance, the whole issue of contractors being subject to employee and employer taxes may no longer be relevant for many, because you'll be free to move to Bahamas (and obtain a tax residency) and do your projects from a beach and nobody will care that you enjoy some sunshine as long as the work is done and you dial in to the meetings.
          You may not get the same rate as the competition will be with the entire world, so it's good to focus on self-improvement instead of moaning.

          Only losers in this situation are people who organised their life to be tied to specific place, as they'll be punished by excessive taxes for doing so.
          You'll think differently if you get married, have kids, or even just have close family or friends, or want to put roots down to help develop your community. And I for one wouldn't go and live in a 3rd world country like the Bahamas: you'll get paid peanuts when your only real current experience of the place might be one where you had lots of money to spend there.

          Yes there might be an opportunity for some, but they will be in the minority. We have tenants who are contractors from India; they have been told not to return because they are working successfully from India. So the client will now pay them in Rupees rather than £, which saves the client a lot of money but makes the Indian contractor poorer and also means that we lose a good tenant. Cause and effect.

          It will get a lot worse.

          Comment


            #6
            London is probably a special case in this regard. I think I read that ~50% of office workers are now back at work and I expect that will increase dramatically when schools go back, as cojak says. Central London will probably struggle for some time, though; some financial institutions in the square mile have already moved to permanent teleworking. In most cases, more teleworking probably won't mean no office visits, just fewer days in the office, which is probably good all round.

            Comment


              #7
              The Indian outsources are no where near as cost effective as they used to be. Their domestic market also pays decent wages for the top developers. So not only would the compensation have to top that but make up for the unsociable hours as well. There is a push for using Vietnam as the next outsource centre but they have a limited pool of talent and language is a problem.

              We are still a long way from forigeners taking our jobs from the comfort of their own countries.
              Make Mercia Great Again!

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by jamesbrown View Post
                London is probably a special case in this regard. I think I read that ~50% of office workers are now back at work and I expect that will increase dramatically when schools go back, as cojak says. Central London will probably struggle for some time, though; some financial institutions in the square mile have already moved to permanent teleworking. In most cases, more teleworking probably won't mean no office visits, just fewer days in the office, which is probably good all round.
                I think you read wrong

                I was out for a few beers at Canary Wharf last night with people from different offices

                They are seeing no more than 20% return

                Underground at 5pm was like a Sunday morning

                Choice of seats at any bar


                Sent from my iPhone using Contractor UK Forum

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by GhostofTarbera View Post
                  I think you read wrong

                  I was out for a few beers at Canary Wharf last night with people from different offices

                  They are seeing no more than 20% return

                  Underground at 5pm was like a Sunday morning

                  Choice of seats at any bar


                  Sent from my iPhone using Contractor UK Forum
                  What part of London is a special case?

                  I think you read wrong.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by jamesbrown View Post
                    London is probably a special case in this regard. I think I read that ~50% of office workers are now back at work and I expect that will increase dramatically when schools go back, as cojak says. Central London will probably struggle for some time, though; some financial institutions in the square mile have already moved to permanent teleworking. In most cases, more teleworking probably won't mean no office visits, just fewer days in the office, which is probably good all round.
                    Where did you think you read this? Facebook does not count

                    And, by back at work, do you mean back at work (from furlough) or back in the office?

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X