Crystal Umbrella

New research has shown that contractor belief that there is still money to be made within the financial sector. The research, conducted by Giant, showed a 50 per cent increase in the number of IT contractors who believe that the majority of their business will be based in financial services compared with those surveyed six months ago. More than half of those surveyed also stated that despite difficulties in the sector they still believed that they would be in receipt of a pay rise.

Matthew Brown of Giant stated: “In the aftermath of Lehman Brothers’ collapse, IT directors and team leaders at investment banks were forced to let contractors go. But more than 12 months on since the bank’s demise, the IT jobs situation is different because now those same team leaders are being instructed to start hiring again.”

This sentiment was echoed by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies when speaking to Contractor UK. Their director, Marilyn Davidson, stated that there is “a bit of evidence to support the feeling that things are getting better.”

Mr Brown said: “Earlier this year the sheer scale of the downturn in the job market was dawning on everyone and so securing an income to pay bills and mortgages became an understandable priority. We are not at the end of the tunnel just yet but these figures suggest [that] as IT contractors are less nervous about the prospect of being out of work, they are starting to place greater emphasis on career issues, such as the opportunity to develop their skills, when selecting contracts.”

As news comes that the government is set to toughen the rules regarding intra-company transfers, figures have been released which show that twice as many IT workers were imported into the UK last year than workers from all other industries combined. This was despite the number of IT workers who were out of work in the UK due to the recession. Throughout 2008, 29,240 non-European IT workers were brought into Britain using the intra-company transfer system. Only 14,255 non-European workers came into the country on intra company transfers to work in other sectors, including finance and telecoms.

The original theory behind intra-company transfers was that employers could transfer workers who had necessary skills that proved difficult to find within the UK. However, the Association of Professional Staffing Companies who have obtained this data under a Freedom of Information request, found that the majority of these workers were imported from India and were working at software houses. The Association believe that all vacancies must be advertised in the UK before companies should be allowed to import workers. As it stands there is no obligation on companies to do this and as they can often pay the foreign workers a lower wage, these transfers are often used in a bid to cut costs.

Now, the government have disclosed their plans to tighten up the rules of intra-company transfers. Companies will now have to prove that no UK worker is being displaced by the introduction of a non-EU worker. The Association of Professional Staffing Companies believe that this does not go far enough. They have stated that the decision not to insist on positions being advertised in the UK first was “disappointing”.