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The contract market in London is in a difficult place at the moment. IR35 has generally made buyers weary (in a way they weren't before) as well as limited the

The contract market in London is in a difficult place at the moment. IR35 has generally made buyers weary (in a way they weren't before) as well as limited the type of work contractors are given; budgets have also been very tightly squeezed because of Corona, it's hitting contractors pretty hard. As a 'buyer' of these services myself, full-stack JS dev contractors are in one of the most oversaturated parts of the market and many in my network are attempting to find full-time work at the moment. Those that aren't are having to compete on rates in a way they never have before, definitely a buyers market. The other side of this is how much more volatile contractor work is than before, many companies with a mixed full-time/contractor team see their contractor pool as the most 'expendable' when cuts need to be made. Many people in my network have had existing long-term contracts ended with little to no notice. I've also seen limited evidence the pushing back of IR35 to next year is changing the policies towards contractors at large corporates, where (by volume) most contractors get their contracts. In short, I don't think it's the best time, but: if you do make the jump, make sure you have contracts SIGNED before you make any big decisions. Not a hand-shake or an email, a written contract. If you can get that, then you'll be in a good place.

bambataa 6y ago
This has been my experience as a contractor. My contract got ended early and some early leads ended with the client putting all contractors on hold. OP, if you can get something on the side then go for it but it seems very risky to go full-time at the minute. That said, you have a lot more experience than me.
sbacic 6y ago
Interesting. How is the market in London for frontend devs, specifically ones working in the React stack (plus some GraphQL)? I was in London last year and got the impression that it's a pretty lackluster market - high cost of living, average earning potential. I did some back of the napkin math and realized it only made sense if I worked remotely and occasionally visited London (once a month, twice a month maybe?). What do you think is the going rate in London for short-term (up to 3 months max, preferable 1-1.5 month contracts) freelancers that don't live there but can occasionally visit for meetings and such?
- Joe8Bit 6y ago
  Pretty saturated as well, lots of FE folks looking for contracts at the moment. Day rates of £400-1000 a day for FE devs were common before COVID, now I’d expect ~20% less than that but YMMV. Remote and visiting occasional is getting a lot more common for contractors these days, so you could detonate it work.
  - sefrost 6y ago
    £4-600 sure, but £1000 day rates? Who's getting that?
    - Joe8Bit 6y ago
      £1,000+ is pretty standard for Lead/Principal level engineers, in my experience, especially in financial services where it's often even higher than that.
  - wdb 6y ago
    I find remote roles hard to find in London; especially don't appreciate you working from abroad and coming one week a month to London

bambataa 6y ago

This has been my experience as a contractor. My contract got ended early and some early leads ended with the client putting all contractors on hold. OP, if you can get something on the side then go for it but it seems very risky to go full-time at the minute. That said, you have a lot more experience than me.

sbacic 6y ago

Interesting. How is the market in London for frontend devs, specifically ones working in the React stack (plus some GraphQL)? I was in London last year and got the impression that it's a pretty lackluster market - high cost of living, average earning potential. I did some back of the napkin math and realized it only made sense if I worked remotely and occasionally visited London (once a month, twice a month maybe?). What do you think is the going rate in London for short-term (up to 3 months max, preferable 1-1.5 month contracts) freelancers that don't live there but can occasionally visit for meetings and such?

Joe8Bit 6y ago
Pretty saturated as well, lots of FE folks looking for contracts at the moment. Day rates of £400-1000 a day for FE devs were common before COVID, now I’d expect ~20% less than that but YMMV. Remote and visiting occasional is getting a lot more common for contractors these days, so you could detonate it work.
- sefrost 6y ago
  £4-600 sure, but £1000 day rates? Who's getting that?
  - Joe8Bit 6y ago
    £1,000+ is pretty standard for Lead/Principal level engineers, in my experience, especially in financial services where it's often even higher than that.
- wdb 6y ago
  I find remote roles hard to find in London; especially don't appreciate you working from abroad and coming one week a month to London