Clydesdale Bank cuts IT contractor pay rates

Temporary IT workers at Clydesdale Bank have agreed to be paid at least 10% less to keep their contracts and avoid losing their jobs.

The Glasgow-based lender denied to ContractorUK that it has introduced a “blanket” rate cut, in line with a source who says some daily rates are down by 15%; others by as much as 20%.   

It makes Clydesdale Bank, which includes Yorkshire Bank, the fifth bank of 2016 to refuse contract extensions to IT freelancers who fail to agree to do the same work for less money.

“We have not applied any blanket rate reduction,” a spokesman for Clydesdale Bank said, responding to questions. “[But] we review both the number and pay rates of IT contractors on a regular basis.”

One IT contractor affected by the ‘review’ believes the ‘number’ accepting the reduction will please the bank -- “most of us are taking the cut, as the rates are still pretty decent,” he said.

But the contractor took issue with any suggestion that the cut was not broadly implemented, saying entire teams such as “all of the [bank’s] desktop contractors” are affected.

Other IT contractors, including those who are still at Clydesdale Bank, took issue with the duration of the pay cut because it is written into their contracts for the next six months.

So an IT contractor who last month extended at their new, lower rate will still be on that rate in December, with no opportunity to return to earning their previous, higher rate until January 2017.

One IT contractor who says he quit as a direct result of this six-month tie-in claims the bank made the cut because it wants to save money by aligning the rates of senior contract techies with their more junior counterparts.

“Since Clydesdale split from National Australia Bank, they're trying to become more streamlined,” he said. “They seem to want to get [IT rates] down to [a fixed figure applicable to all contractors].”

Yet an IT staffing firm unconnected to Clydesdale Bank but which regularly places IT contractors at financial outfits, Bowers Partnership, is doubtful that the bank would put such a strategy in place.

“We would be very surprised if any bank were able to maintain or attract contractors of the right calibre with a uniform rate,” the firm said. “It goes against the grain of the rest of the market.”

Asked whether achieving a singular rate for IT contractors was the aim of the reduction, the Clydesdale Bank spokesman declined to be drawn, saying only: “We hope to remain competitive, while balancing the number of contractors we retain against business need.”

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