Puzzled
I am genuinely puzzled by the attitude and many of the comments of contractors. There appears to be a view that is take it of leave it. If it is leave it then "I will go and work outside of the UK" is the main focus.
As a permanent employee in a team we do occasionally use contractors, some are good some are okay but many are mediocre or plain bad. Most are paid the same and we understand that as a contractor there are certain risks and liabilities that mean the daily rate is more than a FTE.
For all those contractors that say IR35 is so bad that they are basically going to stop work, then what?
They have to live off something and there is only so much one can have as a hump. If the big companies decide that they are not going to use contractors then take a hit on projects to god forbid, employ people on fixed-term contracts or whatever, then the contractors are simply not going to have the work.
If that hump to cover the bad times is large that you can stop working for years, either retire very early or just sit around then it does rather fuel the arguments that contractors are paid too much. Long-term daily rate contracts that are essentially fixed term FTE are an abuse of the system by the companies who are engaging their services. The people engaging their services are also part of the problem.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
