Why Contracting Is Worth Considering After a Tech Layoff

The IT jobs market right now is tough. Redundancies are happening across the board, hiring freezes are in place at a lot of organisations, and permanent roles are genuinely harder to come by. Processes are long. Ghosting is real. It is a frustrating time if you are out of work and looking.

But there is a mistake a lot of candidates are making right now and it is costing them good opportunities. That mistake is dismissing contract roles out of hand.

The permanent market tightens. The contract market picks up

Here is something worth knowing. When companies downsize, they do not stop needing skilled people. If anything, the demand for project delivery work often increases during periods of restructure. The difference is that organisations under financial pressure cannot commit to headcount, so they turn to contractors instead. While the permanent market tightens, the contract market tends to pick up. The work is still there, the budgets are still there, it is just packaged differently.

Time and again I find myself speaking to candidates who will not consider contracting because of stability concerns. The irony is that for a lot of these people, this might be the first time in their career they actually have nothing to lose by trying something different.

What a contract role can actually do for you

A contract role after a layoff can do more than people expect. It gets you back earning quickly rather than sitting in a lengthy permanent process. It keeps your CV active and your skills sharp during a slow market. A six or twelve month contract can shift your position entirely, bridging you from a difficult market into a better one. Daily rates are strong right now and in many cases contracting can out-earn a permanent salary when you factor in the rate. Our own data shows that over 70% of candidates we place in contract roles go on to stay in contracting, which says something about how the reality of it compares to the expectation.

Permanent is not as secure as it used to be

The other thing worth saying out loud is this. Permanent roles are not as secure as they used to feel. The last eighteen months have shown that clearly enough. A contract might have a defined end date, but a permanent job can disappear just as fast when a business restructures. The security people associate with a permanent role is not always what it appears to be.

If you are currently on the market and have been ruling out contract work, it might be worth a second look.  If you want to see any further tech contract recruitment information please see here.

For tech contract jobs please see here or any other assistance get in touch with our team here.