It’s been a rough year for contractors. As we have previously reported here, the industry is showing signs of recession, not made any easier by the still-lingering threats from IR35 and a nation of new work-from-homers.
But there is some good news. Some of you have already got some key skills that people are looking for, as the nation braces itself for a winter of more possible lockdowns, economic uncertainty and a raft of potential tax hikes to cover the cost of COVID.
If you are an IT security specialist, however, you should be laughing all the way to the bank. Demand is well and truly up for IT security skills, as a result of all the new homeworkers, who are accessing work data from a plethora of remote locations. And, if you’ve followed the news, you’ll know that many of the bigger businesses are planning a return to work for many of their staff from the near to midterm, much to the chagrin of Rishi Sunak, who wants everyone back at their desks, stat.
In fact, a data security specialist could see a day rate of as much as £800 per day, right now.
If you’re in the IT space and offer or implement collaboration tools, likely you too are rushed off your feet as the world of remote working and collaboration sees business exploring new and improved ways to safely and effectively run remote teams using collaboration software.
If you’re a data analyst, again, it should be happy days, with companies needing to know what is happening where and what data bandwidths and outputs are going to look like in the months ahead.
Cloud specialist? Yes, companies are storing more data than ever in the cloud, with an unending need for it to come up and down at will and remain safe and secure.
And if you’re a developer, great news. While many of you may have previously been contracting in-house, many of your introvert dreams have come true, as more and more firms are looking for developers to work from home to complete projects.
But all round, despite there being a recession for contractors as a whole, for those in IT, it appears your skills are needed now more than ever. And even better news for contractors, who enable businesses to flex and scale their workforce as this uncertain economy dictates.
We don’t know what this winter will bring, but chances are if you’re in IT and working as a contractor, the good news is that it shouldn’t be all doom and gloom if you get yourself out there.
