It’s a bit queer when the demand for skilled, qualified IT contractors is on its way up even as pay rates for many IT workers are being slashed significantly.
I know it seems rather counterproductive, but it’s actually true: there are some major firms out there that are offering much less in compensation to their temporary or contract IT workers, even though recruitment for these positions is still incredibly strong. In fact, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation even published a report a few days ago remarking how robust the demand for IT workers is at the moment, which makes the news that businesses are scaling back what they’re willing to offer their contract workers.
Many of these pay rate cuts have been, distressingly, handed down alongside an ultimatum: contractors are told essentially that they can start working at the lower rate or they can look forward to having their contracts terminated and not renewed. For what it’s worth, this sounds like the kind of strong-arm tactics that can set your teeth on edge; well, they set my teeth on edge, anyway.
This behaviour on the part of major firms began last year with CapGemini, a business service consultant firm that specialises in information technology. Late in 2012 saw the firm informing its interim workers in the IT department that they have the fun choice of either having their contracts terminated or take a five per cent pay cut on each and every invoice from January of this year – and have a Merry Christmas as well, I’m sure.
The dominoes began to fall after that, as Barclays followed suit in telling its contract workers in four UK and US divisions to drop their bills by as much as 10 per cent from this past February if they wanted to keep receiving work from the banking giant. It happened again as recently as this past weekend, where business technology firm Atos surprised its IT contract workers with an e-mail informing them that they can likewise drop their invoices by 10 per cent if they didn’t want to be out of a contract – and that they only had a week to make up their minds.
Now far be it for me to say that firms aren’t allowed to negotiate with their contract workers when it comes to the rates they’re willing to pay for services rendered, but that’s just it: these firms aren’t negotiating at all, are they? No, they’re just handing down ultimatums and refusing to enter into any sort of discussion with their contractors, and that’s an absolutely terrible business practice, especially when contract workers are such a valuable part of the economy!
