IT contractor optimism holds steady for 2015

A ContractorUK survey shows the vast majority of its readers are IT contractors who are just as optimistic about their prospects for 2015 as they were a year ago.

More than two-thirds of such workers who responded to the website’s survey last month indicated the 12-month outlook for their rate and skills to either be ‘bright’ or ‘very bright.’

Exactly the same proportion (67%) said the same in the previous survey in December 2013, implying optimism was -- and remains -- the prevailing sentiment among IT contractors.

The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) agreed that contractors are upbeat, ironically 24hrs after ‘Blue Monday,’ the year’s most depressing day.

IPSE’s Chris Bryce told CUK yesterday: “Recent research by IPSE suggests the majority of freelancers are cautiously optimistic about their business prospects for the year ahead.”

In line with his reading, the ContractorUK survey shows that as well as most IT contractors feeling positive, in spite of ‘take it or leave’ rate cuts just last month, fewer are pessimistic.

In fact, the chunk of survey respondents regarding their pay and professional prospects as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’ has shrunk to just 8%, compared with 14% in December 2013.

One explanation may be that although most contractors say their costs have increased, so too has the number of contracts they win and the revenue they generate, said Mr Bryce.  

A former IT contractor, IPSE’s boss added: “Despite potential concerns about the year ahead, the UK economy seems to be strengthening which is good news for micro-businesses”.

One potential fly in the ointment he foresees is that 2015 is an uncertain year politically, which may cause such businesses some concern, owing to a general election in May.

Indeed, the Labour government and Gordon Brown MP were previously named by ContractorUK readers as the ‘biggest hindrance’ to IT contracting, notably in 2006 and 2007.

But according to the latest survey,  recruitment agencies were the biggest hindrance to IT contracting in 2014, because of phishing; payment issues, “poor contracts” and mismatching, among other reasons.

Staffing body the REC did not respond before deadline to the charges from CUK’s readers, who the survey found to primarily be project/programme managers with up to five years’ contracting experience.

Editor's Note: Related Reading -

Contractors' prospects set to plateau in 2015