IT contractor pay creeping up again
With demand for financial IT contractors in the doldrums for much of last year, the chances of a reversal of 2008's rate cuts were slim. Now, however, with more projects starting up, investment banks are becoming more flexible about pay.
There was a 53% drop in the number of contracts offered to financial IT workers in 2009, according to figures from employment monitor Powerchex. But in the fourth quarter of last year, the number of jobs secured swelled by 65% on Q3.
"Projects that were cancelled with the onset of the recession are now being resurrected and companies are hiring contractors again," says Alexandra Kelly, director at Powerchex.
This increased desire to recruit financial technology contractors is beginning to affect the rates being offered, says Paul Elworthy, associate director for IT in banking and financial services at Hudson.
"Rates are creeping up again," he says. "We're getting to a point where candidates can have two or three offers, each on an interesting project, so the differentiator becomes the rate. I'd expect them to come back to pre-crisis levels this year."
He adds that those with experience of building electronic trading platforms across multiple asset classes, as well as techies with a good knowledge of credit and market risk systems are likely to be in the best bargaining position.
The reduction in daily rate doesn't appear to be convincing contractors to make the move across to the security of permanent work.
As one contractor commented: "Even with the rate cuts, contractors in certain areas of banks (exotics/derivatives) can expect a minimum of 500 per day up to 1200 for the cream, which is equivalent to about 110k-250k per year gross. And as most contractors pay about 22% tax rather than 40% that permies pay, it's even more appealing."
