Do IT contractors really need to start considering taking the permanent route?
Demand for IT contractors in the financial sector continues to slide faster than a - pedestrian on the streets of Dublin, but is it really necessary to try and secure a permanent role?
The number of jobs secured by IT contractors in the financial sector picked up a little last month, according to figures from pre-employment screening company Powerchex, but this is an "anomaly" says its managing director Alexandra Kelly.
"I think that opportunities for contractors with financial services will decline as we head towards the end of the year, and into 2011," she said. "Any contractors who have the option of going permanent should take the plunge, as the option may not be there in a couple of months."
But is it really that bad? There have been some negative signs, such as Standard Bank's move to cut 110 contractors in London, as well as cuts within BarCap and Standard Life.
However, the contractor market was artificially inflated in the first half of this year, with many banks simply scrambling to fill headcount as quickly as possible, suggests Mark Warburton, partner and sales director at IT in finance recruiters 752 Solutions.
"There was a false uplift in H1 this year, from very depressed levels in 2009, with banks choosing to recruit contractors because of the long lead time in hiring permanent staff," he says. "The contractor market remains steady, and we're certainly not seeing a double dip."
RBS, which has been a voracious recruiter of contractors all year, continues to offer opportunities, suggest recruiters, as does HSBC.
What's more the focus of recruitment has shifted. While many of the post-merger integration projects have stalled, there's a big desire to recruit contractors to roll out regulatory driven compliance technology projects, says Johnny Walker, of recruiters Magnus Walker & Partners.
"Everyone with appropriate skills has jumped on the contractor bandwagon in the regulatory space," he says. "What's more there's a continuing skill shortages around trading and risk applications knowledge."
Walker recruits for both permanent and contract technology staff, and says he's seen little desire among contractors to seek the security of a permanent position.
"However, permanent candidates who contracted out of necessity, rather than desire, for the last two years will find the permanent market much improved. Therefore, there will be some fall off in contractor numbers there, simply because they didn't want to be contractors in the first place," he says.
