Testimonials

We’re still only in single figures with how many days I’ve been back in the office since the extended festive holiday.

But I’ve already lost count of how many times I’ve had to steer IT contractors away from making amateur mistakes in their New Year ‘job jump,’ writes Natalie Bowers, co-founder of Bowers Partnership, an expert in contract recruitment.

To save repeating myself, and mindful of my own sanity -- especially as the most depressing day of the year approaches (‘Blue Monday’ on January 15th), here are five things that risk making IT contractors look newbie-ish in the new year:

1. Proclaiming that IT contracting with client ‘x’ is no longer for them, and that quitting all computer-related earnings activity for ‘x’ is the only option.

So do you really want to move to a new contract, or are you just suffering from an old-fashioned dose of the 'January blues' like everyone else?

The grass is rarely greener. Unless there is a very good reason you should really look to be completing your currently perfectly good assignment, contract or project. If you feel like your feet are itching every time you put them under your desk -- just give yourself a few good weeks to re-immerse yourself back into the usual routine before you make (and vocalise) this potentially career-changing decision.

2. Having a ‘don’t ask-don’t get’ attitude about the headline rate, on day one of the project back at the client workplace.

Jealous of those permies talking about that annual salary increase, or nostalgic about the bonuses you once received when you too were on ‘the dark side’?!

Just because we are now in January and you’ve been in your current role for six months, or even a year or more, it doesn’t mean that you are suddenly entitled to a rate increase.

Rather than waste your time and energy bothering your existing client and irritating your agency (plus most likely breaching the terms of your agreement with the agency), just get on with your work, and be thankful that you’ve had such a long, consistent billing opportunity! If you really still hanker for that annual appraisal (and the accompanying tedium), plus that miniscule 1.4% pay rise, then maybe it is time to go permanent.

3. Forgetting that loose lips (and clever software) sink contracting careers quite often.

It’s always tempting at this time of year to ‘test the market.’ If you are feeling the urge to ‘put a few feelers out,’ like checking in with half a dozen market specialists in your sector or putting yourself on a job board -- then beware.

Both of these activities can potentially end in tears. Your existing client not to mention your existing agency no doubt have a very good network of contacts of their own. The news is almost bound to get back to one of them. Or both.

Imagine your agent’s surprise (and face) when they find your fully updated CV for 2018popping into their inbox courtesy of a standard CValert on their favourite job board.

If you really do want to test the market -- have a confidential chat with your agent. Make sure that they understand that this is just a casual market appraisal -- out of interest -- to see how the market is functioning in general and whether they predict a good strong year of demand for you.

4. Playing hardball when the client/agency/project has a lot on.

Extension time in January can be a bit fraught.

‘Great news -- your client is really happy and even better news; the project has over run so they want to extend you for another 6 months.’ Hearing this from their agent should be enough for contractors to produce little more than an affirmative nod! It’s not an invitation to start hard negotiations.

In short, don’t get tempted to try to renegotiate the terms at this stage. If your client feels like they are being held to ransom, they may well decide to replace you next time instead. Don’t forget that clients (and agencies) value your loyalty and professionalism nearly as highly as your specialist skillset.

5. Being too insular by not considering the future; their reputation; the bigger picture.

And by ‘future’ I mean not just the immediate term. Remember that your current market value is not just based on your CV; expertise and skillset.

It is also a function of your reputation as someone who sees the job through, and your level of professionalism. Your loyalty and commitment (yes, even as a freelance contractor). You want your client, even your agent to say that you ‘are the kind of person who gets things done and stays until they are done, with minimal fuss and maximum levels of service.’

Then, what you really want to be is the ‘go-to’ contractor for your particular niche -- the very first person who the client thinks of for a call back, or a recommendation to a colleague. You are the ‘candidate of choice’ for the key agency players in your market. Contractors, this is the space where the highest billers exist. They hardly ever look at job boards - they simply don’t need to!

Oscar Lorimer, studying for a Level 2 Diploma in Business Administration, is the worthy winner of our latest Apprentice of the Month award.

Oscar currently works for Bowers Partnership, a specialist recruitment agency in Crowborough who work predominantly with clients in the Insurance and Asset Management sectors.

Oscar said: “I’d previously attended college, studying Business, Finance and Software development – and had come to the conclusion that I wanted to start earning, so an apprenticeship seemed the next logical path to take. I saw the role advertised on the government apprenticeships website and thought I’d be well-suited.”

“My role at Bowers has been very varied, involving speaking to experienced contractors and also doing some research into developing an app, and some additional features and functions to current software.”

Bryony Sexton, Contracts and Communications Manager at Bowers, who nominated Oscar for the award, said: “We’re only a small team here, but Oscar has really become a key part of it - and it’s been great to watch his confidence grow. The learning process has been mutual: he’s taught us a great deal technology-wise, which has contributed to useful time-savings. His award is really well-deserved.”

Although the word ‘scarcity’ and ‘shortage’ can have negative connotations in many walks of life, for a canny IT contractor these are the adjectives for market conditions sent from heaven, writes Natalie Bowers, co-founder of Bowers Partnership, a niche recruitment consultancy for the investment management sector.

In the IT contractor recruitment industry, despite all the changes of late -- ranging from technology to compliance, it’s still a simple question of ‘supply and demand.’

And for the first time in quite a long time, certain skillsets are experiencing such a peak in demand that we’re seeing some really welcome, hefty pay rate inflation. It’s not gone unnoticed by a national staffing body, which says that due to market forces around certain IT contractor skills, there is a “strong chance of getting a pay rise” just by jumping jobs.

But the jump can of course be perilous, and having a pot of gold as your motivation requires some ‘belt and braces’ safety tips before you step off the precipice. Here’s my top three:

All that glitters…

That headline rate on the shiny contract or job advert on your favourite board really is an attention-grabber, isn’t it? But, hold on, if it looks too good to be true…it possibly is. In a candidate-short market, employers and agencies will go out of their way to get you to apply for their job or contract.
And one of the tricks of the trade is the ‘knock ‘em dead rate.’ It puts your current contract (and all others for that matter) in the shade -- and gets candidates queueing round the corner for the hirers.

It could be for real – but before you hit the “apply here” button and hand over your latest and greatest CV, it might be an idea to pick up the phone and speak to the advertiser in person. This quick one-to-one could head off the potentially unwanted scenario of the world and his brother knowing you’re back on the market – potentially for a fiction. Quietly call the agent just to subtly check and make sure that this opportunity really is the gold, and not the fool’s variety.

Don’t dead-end yourself

If you’re thinking to yourself that you could do with a change of scenery as well as a bit of a pay rise, first be sure that the move you are contemplating making won’t lead you off down a ‘one-way street.’

Clients and specialist agencies are always on the look-out for contractors with relevant recent experience and this also includes experience in their particular industry / sector. If you take the chance and follow the money off over the hill, and outside of your normal niche, then you may find yourself stuck in that sector without a way back to your normal hunting ground. Chopping and changing of industry sectors only serves to dilute your value in the market, and so where possible, stick to yours.

Get strategic

If you’ve given an opening serious consideration; its CV affirming and enhancing, and you’ve done your homework on the agency/client, including verifying that both the contract and the rate are real -- and you still want to make that move, then just finally before you leap, please consider the long-term view.

That fabulous new contract with the higher rate, may not be as lucrative as you think. It’s always a good idea to make sure that this next gig is going to be a long-term opportunity and is going to be worth the valuable inches it’s going to take up on your CV.

Do the maths and look at the calendar. An extra £50 a day (less tax and a few days holiday thrown in), for three months and then finding that you’re back on the market for an age at a time when all the demand dies off, is possibly not going to make this move viable. But, if it ticks all the boxes for you and you’re sure that it’s a marathon there for the completing – by all means – feel free to bag it up!

Final thought

Reading that ‘candidates planning to move jobs have a strong chance of cashing-in’ sounds great. It stands an even stronger chance of actually happening to you if you abide by the above trio and resist rushing to terminate your current contract on only the whiff of a new and improved version. Good luck!

Bryony Sexton, from Bowers Partnership, asked herself the question – “am I out of my mind”?

She said “Skydiving has always been on my bucket list but I didn’t think I would ever have the guts to do it. I wanted to fundraise for Mind – the Mental Health Charity. I originally thought I would do a cake sale or something small like that, but I knew if I did something big then I would hopefully raise a lot more money.”

“Before I knew it I had booked a date for the skydive and I must say, if you’re thinking of doing it then do it” Bryony says it was the most crazy but incredible experience. “I was a bundle of nerves the morning of the dive, but the minute I put on my Mind T-Shirt I remembered how important it was for me to do this.”

“When I was free-falling 12,000 feet from the sky, surprisingly, all my nerves vanished, there was no feeling like it! You can tell by my smile how much I was loving it!”

Bryony’s jump has raised £670 so the Mind charity so far.

“There is so much stigma attached to mental health which is frustrating because it’s so common yet we are so ashamed to talk about it. It can be so mentally draining battling with your own mind every day.”

Mind is a brilliant charity who offer amazing support. Visit their website, call their helpline 0300 123 3393, text 86463 or email info@mind.org.uk for more info.

Source: Contractor UK

'Warnings that the UK’s status as an IT talent beacon will diminish due to Brexit were shrugged off yesterday as premature.

In an update via its economist, indeed.com said Britain’s tech sector was “barely dented” by its looming EU exit, as 10% of the site’s IT job-hunters were applying from abroad.

The site’s Pawel Adrian also said that based on the 1 in 10 hit rate from overseas interest its roster of UK IT jobs, Britain’s tech market was ‘still attracting interest from migrants.’

The statement will reassure some employers because since 2017’s ‘leave’ vote, applications for UK tech jobs by EU nationals have abated by 28%, another online jobs giant has said.

Less interest'

Although that alert dates back to May 2017, London IT agency First Point Group told ContractorUK in September 2018 of “less interest from applications…in EU countries for UK roles.”

Suggesting that it has seen similar, Bowers Partnership, which also places IT contractors, points out that ‘applications’ are one thing, ‘confirmed placements’ quite another.

“One in ten of the applications for UK jobs [may well] come from outside of the UK, [but] the number of roles actually filled by these non–UK work-seekers would be more interesting [stats] to peruse.”

'Pay rises'

These numbers were not disclosed, yet indeed.com’s Mr Adrian did imply UK placements of EU workers may fall -- or become more expensive-- if the £30k salary threshold for non-EU applicants gets extended.

“Several of the roles most popular [on our site] among EU citizens pay less than the £30,000 threshold…[so] this raises the prospect of skilled Europeans eschewing a post-Brexit UK, in favour of EU economies where they can work more easily”.

He added: “This may [also] result in significant pay rises in these sectors [mid-skilled, or specialist yet entry-level] to enable European workers to meet any future salary threshold and remain eligible for a working visa.”

'Reticence'

The prospect of additional wages for EU talent, just to keep it incoming, may further irritate Britons, who are already revaluating whether they want to stay with their engagers.

In fact, Morgan McKinley yesterday said a “reticence” among employers to discuss their Brexit-related staffing plans may be behind the 26% spike in ‘in-work’ candidates who want to ‘jump ship.’

“Businesses are holding their cards close to their chests, prepared to hold off…until the very last minute, and that’s worrying their staff”, said the agency’s managing director Hakan Enver.

“Professionals who want to stay in London, but are concerned about their roles being transferred overseas, are leveraging the shrinking window of time to try and secure a job locally.”

'Slowdown'

Despite the appetite of some to move, the agency reported a 33% annual slump in opportunities (falling to 7% on a monthly basis,) similar to the tailing off in growth in new opportunities that IT contractors witnessed in October.

However, Mr Enver said October-November was traditionally the time of year for end-users -- especially financial institutions -- to “slow down their hiring until after the New Year”.

And such seasonal factors are more likely to impact the prospects of skilled IT contractors looking for work than atypical factors like Brexit, according to Bowers Partnership’s co-founder Natalie Bowers.

“In our opinion, UK-based contractors have nothing to fear from non-UK professionals anyway, coming to the UK post-Brexit,” she said. “We have a longstanding tradition of supplementing our labour needs with workers from overseas, and the market will find its own natural balance post the UK’s departure.”

Even us recruitment captains have noticed that contractors have spent much of the year firing broadsides at regulation, whether it’s the 2019 Loan Charge or IR35 reform, writes Natalie Bowers, co-founder of niche staffing consultancy Bowers Partnership.

Before I dare to suggest that regulation is not always ‘a bad thing’ for contractors, it’s worth pointing out that the still relatively far-off changes to IR35 in the private sector are not currently affecting what we’ve seen over this last quarter in the professional contract market.

In fact, our latest intel indicates that the October and early November lull for IT contractors was more closely aligned to the continued uncertainty around Britain’s exit from the EU, not proposed IR35 reform from April 2020.

You’ve probably earned off regulation

Let’s not forget, and it often is forgotten amid the lobbying against new laws, that the market and the demand for top-rate tech contractors has been significantly propped up by mandatory regulatory projects - ever since 2016 in fact. There’s MiFID in the background, and GDPR is still firmly in the foreground today.

Well, in the absence of yet another big new regulation knocking on our doors (NB, nobody can even have more than an educated guess about the precise ‘nuts and bolts’ that the private sector IR33 framework will contain), IT departments are taking a well-earned breather. In the main, they are adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach to project planning and spending commitments for 2019. This is hardly surprising.

Don’t dither

But don’t let the hiatus from the regulatory respite lull you into a false sense of security. Those of you contractors who are contemplating a jump back (or into) into the world of permanent work might want to investigate sooner rather than later. The gap between daily rate and total compensation (pensions, statutory benefits etc) has never been smaller, and once you factor in the IR35 rule changes of April 2020, you may find that ‘the dark side’ becomes a less gloomy option, in financial terms. So out of those of you who are asking us now, we are recommending contractors not to delay looking at their options with nine-to-fives, or at least - don’t leave any decision to jump for too long, otherwise you might get trampled in the rush.

SCD - Seasonal (Contractor) Disorder

Acting now is difficult advice to ‘sell’ at this time of year. Let’s face it, who isn’t busy with life in general in the run-up to Christmas? With more time browsing for presents taking over from thumbing through the job board pages, it’s hard to get motivated and even harder to find the time to be bothered searching for that new contract.

For many IT contractors, it’s currently a case of ‘why do today what you can put off until January’?! Even the most industrious contractors know that many agencies will finish on or around December 21st, and the vast majority of client sites have a furlough at the same time.

So yes, this is the one time of year when it feels entirely legitimate to take one’s foot off the contract-searching gas. The job boards tell us that this is a very normal pattern and that they always see a slump in applications between November and the end of December.

Out with the old…

What for the New Year though? Well, we predict 2019 will see a strong continued push for digitisation and all things client-facing. So User Experience, Client Engagement and Client Journey are sure to be the ‘buzzwords’ of the coming 12 months. This will come as great news for contract Web Developers, Digital Business Analysts and Business Change Project Managers because clients will be looking for a step-change in their Digital and Web-based business models. Testers who work freelance are also sure to benefit from the client-centric projects that are surely set to dominate next year too. It might not be comparable in terms of the rates paid out for these specialisms, but many will see these skillsets taking over as a welcome change from the last three years when regulation was king. And yes, that period paid royally, but a changing of the skills-guard is all but upon us.

Callum Wade, one of our Recruitment Consultants, recently caught up with us to give his inputs and ideas about the London Market and also an insight into what the future may look like for Insurtech.

What is the most interesting thing about the London Insurance Market?

"The most interesting thing is the history behind the London Market and the way it has developed over the past 300 years. It's particularly exciting currently due to the uprise of Insurtech."

What makes a good London Market Specialist?

"The London Market is extremely incestuous, so I constantly search for new talent with industry experience. I also keep my ear to the ground for significant changes taking place in the market, such as IFRS 17, the new Financial Reporting Standards. These types of changes create a massive demand for specialists in the market. I pass this information onto candidates so that once they have identified where the demand is, they can take action to ensure that their services meet those demands, and when they're ready, I present them to clients to create a solution for both parties."

What would you say is your greatest achievement whilst working at Bowers Partnership?

"When looking back on my time at Bowers Partnership it’s difficult to identify the greatest achievement because there are many things that I’m proud of. But placing my first candidate tops the list. Bowers Partnership is the only recruitment business that I have worked for, and I’m particularly proud of that because the team has moulded me into the specialist that I am today. I've had the benefit of learning how to manage the recruitment process in the correct and most efficient way and have not been exposed to the bad habits that the recruitment industry has a reputation for practising. Candidates and clients that I work with will never be on the receiving end of these bad habits, and will always be treated with respect, as well as receiving a stellar service." If you're looking for a fresh start in the London Market then register on our website to receive regular updates 

What do you think will be the biggest trends for Insurtech during 2019?

"In my opinion, the biggest three trends for Insurtech during 2019 will be the Internet Of Things, Big Data and Chatbots. They all have the potential to increase revenue or save costs on a large scale. If I had to choose the singular biggest Insurtech trend for 2019, I’d say big data because I think this has the most potential to increase revenue and is the most controllable from the perspective of the organisation. It’s the insurance provider that would be analysing the data and utilising this to target the customers most likely to buy. However, the success of the internet of things and chatbots both depend on the number of customers that choose to use that service."

There’s been some raised eyebrows of late when I’ve told contractors the truth - that it’s agencies who will carry the heavier obligations of the off-payroll rules for the private sector, and not clients, writes Natalie Bowers, co-founder of niche recruiters Bowers Partnership.

It’s not because I’m privy to the contents of the imminent consultation to implement those rules that I can make this deduction - a consultation, please note, that could entirely upend everyone’s understanding of ‘who does what’ under the April 2020 framework for IR35.

But at the time of writing, the ‘who does what’ reads as a laundry list if you’re a contractor recruitment agency. In fact, if you’re an IT contractor, your agency will be responsible for:

• Administering the IR35 status decision
• Providing the appropriate contract as a result
• Deducting National Insurance and Income Tax in-house
• Charging the client an equivalent sum if Employer NI is due (under an inside IR35 decision)
• Paying you the contractor your net pay (as opposed to gross invoice value)
• Paying the taxes deducted to HMRC
• Reporting to HMRC on it

So no less than seven tasks. Oh, and to potentially do all seven, agencies will need to design, install and maintain appropriate systems and allocate staffing to manage the contracts, deductions and payments to both contractors and HMRC. Looking at what happened in the public sector to contractors’ recruitment agencies, when they had to implement the same sort of systems to operate the same sort of rules, getting ‘systems-ready’ for off-payroll working is no small feat.

Meanwhile, and quite at odds with having to do at least half a dozen tasks, all the end-client has to do is make the decision as to whether the contract is inside or outside IR35.

Yes, a client might need to use CEST or they might use their own solution to test IR35 status, but that’s all part of the same, singular task - decide if IR35 applies. Some clients might shoot back insisting they’ve got a lot to do right now, like – as per some spurious advice being issued – survey their contingence workforce in preparation of the off-payroll rules.

My view is that such a preparation would be a waste of time. Surveying what or how many contractors you’re engaging right now, if you’re a private sector end-user, for a piece of legislation that is at least 12 months away isn’t going to prove that telling, especially as the April commencement date is way beyond all of your current contractor end-dates. Or should be - if the current version of IR35 is being adhered to in your organisation.

There’s also a bit of a cushion for clients in the one task they’ve got to do. HMRC has clearly stated that they will support the end-client in their IR35 decision. As an industry legal expert has pointed out, I cannot see why any agency would go against this decision.

But whereas clients have this nice cushion - HMRC’s backing, agencies have a nasty bed of nails. In fact, even though the end-user gets to decide on IR35, it’s possible that agencies can carry a tax liability.

Specifically, the updated rules for IR35 in the public sector seem to be clear that if a contract is inside IR35, and the entity responsible for paying the contractor (the agency typically) does not deduct National Insurance and applicable tax before paying the contractor, then the agency can be liable for the unpaid tax and NIC payments. You don’t need to get a calculator out to compute that this adds up to being more than the agency’s gross margin on the deal in the first place! This is not a liability to be taken lightly.

Alongside the seven obligations weighing on agencies’ necks, and the need for staff and systems to operate those obligations, this possible liability really is why the burden of administering the private sector off-payroll rules has been placed not on clients, not just on contractors, but on recruiters. Heavily.

That said contractors, you’re of course far from off the hook. Not only do you face the unenviable, career-changing prospect of paying tax like a permie if decided inside IR35, you will be responsible for paying your own corporation tax and VAT - regardless of whether you are decided as inside or outside IR35. You’ll also need to weigh up each and every time you engage if you’re engager is a ‘small company’ or not (and where it’s not a ‘small company,’ the rules must be a consideration)

More positively for those concerned about their bottom-line, it might interest you to know that I foresee market rates adjusting in an upwards direction, as contractors start to pay more normalised PAYE and NI.

Such workers apparently trust agencies less than clients when it comes to status. But HMRC trusts agencies enough, it seems, to make them do the heavy-lifting with these new IR35 rules for the commercial sector. Be in no doubt - the taxman has placed the obligation upon agencies to administer what are effectively changes to the way contractors pay tax; but there’s no change in employment status (‘caught’ contractors won’t get employment rights from either agency or end-user), and there’s no comparable risk or burden to end-clients. It seems that the protests the business community put up all those years ago when IR35 was initially mooted as a rule for engagers to administer are still paying off, some twenty years later. It’ll be up to agencies to point out to HMRC that they are part of the business community too, when the imminent consultation is finally unveiled. I urge all parties to respond and make their voices heard.

Morgan Stanley has cut pay for IT contractors at both its global and UK operations.

The New York-headquartered bank told affected IT contractors to lower their rates by 10 per cent or leave.

It represents the first ‘take it or leave’ rate cut of 2019, following a spate of similar ultimatums to IT contractors in previous years, most notably in 2016.

'Same trick'

Then, a slew of Financial Services (FS) clients -- including Morgan Stanley -- reduced the pay of IT contractors, telling them to accept a lower rate or lose their contracts.

“Morgan Stanley (MS) has just repeated the same trick,” a contractor affected by the current reduction disclosed last week, having also been at the bank at the time of the last cut.

Like MS’s current cut, the 2016 cut was introduced in the first quarter. And ominously for other FS contractors today, it triggered rival banks to follow suit with their own 10% shavings.

'Downturn'

Another similarity between then and now is the contract IT labour market’s conditions, given that the REC yesterday showed February’s demand to be at levels last seen at 2016.

“Market downturn is the reason expressed to me,” a Morgan Stanley contractor told ContractorUK. “It follows contractor hire freezes [here] in December, non-renewals, and enforced furlough.”

For the IT contractor in question, the rate cut also follows “months” of creating, designing and honing a bespoke IT solution for Morgan Stanley which nobody understands better than him.

“[For others] to [take my] position will take time,” he added. “Existing staff are busy on their own book of work and new hires are on hold. So most likely, the [bank's] investment is totally lost.”

'Concerning'

Lee Biggins, founder and chief executive of CV-Library, indicated last night that Morgan Stanley’s decision co cut rates were mystifying, especially as rates are generally rising, not falling.

“It's no secret that there's a mass skills shortage across the UK, with organisations being increasingly reliant on the expert knowledge of contractors to fill these gaps.

“What's more, our data reveals that average pay jumped by 3.1% across the UK last month, a direct result of the war for talent,” he said. “With this in mind, it's concerning to hear the news that contractors have been asked to lower their rates.”

'Who's calling the shots?'

It also appears to defy business-logic, according to niche financial services recruitment firm Bowers Partnership, which specialises in placing contractors in the investment management sector.

“The Morgan Stanley rate cut begs the question ‘Who is calling the shots at the bank to let this decision come about?’,” says the firm’s co-founder Natalie Bowers.

“Maybe it’s the finance department, because what this rate cut seems to overlook is that contractors are real, live people who constantly absorb more and more about the client-outfit

“In banking terms, we’re talking about an ‘active, valuable, appreciating asset’-- that is arguably worth much more than it was when it first walked through the door. So it’s really hard to see how the business-logic is working”.

'Frustrating'

One MS contractor said that despite being offered sweeteners at the 11th hour to rethink their decision to refuse the cut and quit the bank, it was ‘too little, too late.’ And it was “frustrating.”

“It's no wonder that this [Morgan Stanley’s rate cut] has been met with disdain”, CV-Library said.

“Professionals know their worth and aren't afraid to vote with their feet, particularly if they can get a better rate elsewhere. At the same time, businesses can't afford to lose out on key workers, especially when the economy is in turmoil because of Brexit.”

A spokesman for Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

Click here to read the article and other relevant topics (ContractorUK)

The lowest level of demand for technology expertise on a temporary basis in 31 months hit IT contractors in March 2019, mainly thanks to the Brexit crisis.

Blaming the almost three-year low on the UK’s unknown fate with the EU, staffing body the REC scored IT contractor demand at 54.2, the weakest growth reading since August 2016.

“Brexit has been sapping business confidence for months, and now it is causing the jobs market to grind to a halt,” says KPMG, which co-authors the REC’s Report on Jobs.

The firm added: “With unclear trading conditions ahead, many companies have decided to hit the pause button on new hires and reduce their dependency on temporary appointments.”

That reduced dependency in IT is most visible among the industries which typically pay the best, and hire techies more than their own kind, the vice-chairman of KPMG suggested.

“IT recruitment has been slowing for months,” said James Stewart, “but now we’re seeing particularly sharp falls in recruitment activity across financial and professional services.”

Workers are acting on the uncertainty too, as those who wanted to ‘jump ship’ have decided “now isn’t the right to time to abandon the haven of an existing job,” he added.

But should techies need something new, Automation Testing, Oracle Fusion, CAD, CNC, C#, Technology/IT, Development, DevOps and Software Development are likeliest to oblige.

These skills were deemed by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation’s member agencies in March as ‘hard-to-source,’ for both permanent and freelance vacancies.

Software Engineering was the only skill scarce uniquely scarce among contractors, at odds with quite a range on a full-time basis, such as Data Analysis, Java, PHP and Network SDN.

“But Brexit uncertainty has put the brakes on,” cautions REC chief executive Neil Carberry.

“With business investment rates poor, and little certainty about the path ahead, [our] data shows that the time for political game-playing is over.

“This situation is beginning to affect people’s daily lives as permanent staff appointments fell, and the growth of temporary jobs and starting salaries weakened.”

Click here to read the full article and other relevant topics (Contractor UK)