Increasing your income is easy .... abandon IT. Done - you'll save a fortune on Xanax.

Kid - you have got it all wrong!

"there is probably some room for negotiation".

How bout increasing it with 15% by cutting that agency off entirelly?

Why do all "contractors" in Australia behave like bitches and roll over for "their" agent in stead of acting like real consultants?

I used to be a contractor like you guys, but as an employer it is a lot easier to use an agent than employ someone directly.

For the employer the agent represents the following

1 - Makes sure your dealing with a company, it's their responsibility to many of the insurances. Unless your running yourself as a PTY LTD company there are certain insurances I have to cover no choice.

2 - No 80 / 20 rule problem. I can utilize a contractor for an entire year and know that they are not going to have to disapear for a part of it, or do anything dodgy.

3 - Time saved in finding people, I call them up, they give me a person, I interview person, it's that easy.

There is a lot about running a business which you contractors just don't know about, and most of you wouldn't have the guts to leave your nice high paying contracts and spend 14 hour days getting an idea off the ground for the equivilent pay of $20 an hour. I have, I have also started to hire people, and I have tried hiring directly, and I have tried hiring through a recruiter. Let me tell you, I'll be hiring the next person through a recruiter. It's far less hassel.

Happy reading

Alternate Careers for IT Losers

....and call up their friendly psychoanalyst!

Australian workers on tenterhooks as mining giant aims to reduce capital spending to reduce its $40 billion debt.

IF AUSTRALIA needed any further evidence the resources boom has shuddered to a halt, it came yesterday in the announcement the world's second biggest miner, Rio Tinto, would lay off 14,000 workers.

Rio Tinto refused to indicate how many of its 17,000 full-time staff and several thousand contractors in Australia would be affected by the cuts. It employs about 110,000 workers and contractors globally.

Rio Tinto slashes 14,000 jobs

Survey shows jobseekers finding it tough

9/12/2008 12:30:01 PM

Australian jobseekers are finding it tougher as competition for work rises, a private online survey says.

The SEEK Employment index, which measures the ratio of online job advertisements to applications, slid for the 12th consecutive month in November, falling 2.9 index points to 59.7 points.

The index was down 45.6 per cent from a year ago.

Survey shows jobseekers finding it tough

Gloomyshoes, been making good money as a student? Didn't think so. You're the IT Loser because you just couldn't cut it.

How can you cut it in an industry that can't cut it in this country?

ICT has a massive trade deficit of billions of dollars because of the lack of productivity because of losers like you Perusal, and the agencies are completely incompetant.

It fails to employ highly experienced and productive professionals after 10 years of experience in the industry because of rampant age discrimination, leaving the industry with dumb assed Johnnie-come-latelies and fly-by-nighters like you Perusal!

You are obviously a purveyor of that discrimination.

Perusal highly correct. Gloomy failure not compete make self industry big gun. Fail attitude risk make tasty meals for wall street bear '09. Maybe fail as student breaks down like Rio Tito empty mining truck with rusts and flat wheel.

Wise man once say success and fail all states of mind. Gloomy best read selfs help book make order from Santa claws.

GL

What does "cutting it" in IT really mean anyway? Performance and ability mean nothing in this game. Is it simply developing a thick hide and an acceptance that most workplaces suck, most programmers suck and most projects suck and continuing regardless?

Only the kiddies think this occupation goes anywhere. The joke will be on them in 10 or 20 years.

Conservationists are warning Australia's electronic waste problem has reached crisis point.

A study by the Total Environment Centre has found there are more than 123 million electronic waste (e-waste) items in Australian landfill sites.

E-waste problem at 'crisis point'

They do the same thing with people.

Not a student much longer losers - I'm gettin' ready for the big bucks while you IT peons feed of the bottom of the lake.

Gloomy, your shitting me right? interns and resies on the big bucks? A friend of mine who is a resie is right now living in a small two bedroom apartment with her brother because that's all she can afford.

When you get to become a specialist you may be able to name your price, but until you do that your on the shit jobs (literally).

I really doubt you have a medical degree at all.

Anon can't read.

Probably hopeless at reading resumes too.

LAUGHS HIS HEAD OFF

Hello stranger. I was on Monster too back in those days and known as CodeCutter then.

I am currently doing a degree in Psychology - won't be long before I graduate too.

.....Beyond Revenge Lies Redemption

Merry Christmas man - you're one of the few that were smart enough to see the light.

Well, this forum reads like one big dysfunctional family.

Some things never change.

Take a look at this, GL. Looks like your Indian pals are in deep s**t

Bangalore Boys run for cover

Job losses and fears of a recession could lead more foreign workers and students in the United States to move back to their home countries -- and that has some economic observers worried.

Trend of Foreign Workers Leaving Likely to Accelerate as Economy Struggles

Aug. 1, 2008

As the U.S. economic slump continues, American jobs are increasingly in short supply: the U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday that employers shrunk payrolls by 51,000. The decline was smaller than expected but still marked the country's seventh straight month of job losses. The national unemployment rate, meanwhile, has jumped from 5.5 percent to 5.7 percent.

But some experts say there is a bright spot on the jobs front: At least a handful of American companies who had relied on workers stationed overseas are now bringing jobs back to the United States. In addition, foreign companies are continuing to expand U.S. operations and hiring more local residents, instead of flying in foreign staff for business.

Some Outsourced Jobs Are Coming Back

Thanks for those articles, Spotty and Hawkwind. A very interesting read.

It's a pity that this web site is not "keeping up" with the current climate and you have to resort to posting in this topic.

We should be able to create new topics ourselves - just like any other web site in the world!

Having said that, shall we all move somewhere else? Any suggestions?

This site is unbelievable, it so behind the times, what about some Current topics.

Just because you are not effected by the IT climate.

Probably thinks its still 2005

There must be a new owner, probably ?n?i?n.

sd

The job market is looking *very* bleak overseas. What we gain by by foreign workers leaving, we'll lose twice by people returning from overseas.

The dot-com bubble was a cake walk compared to this job market

Looks like leopards aren't very popular in India!

GL,watch out! Leopard Lynched in India

Good article ... the only challenge with implementing this is that contracting acquired through recruiters are capped!

You are capped because the agency may decide not to give you the full information about their cut or may not be willing to negotiate that much.

I have been in the contracting and consulting market for a long time ... and I have worked with lots of agencies ...

There might be a push back against outsourcing following the recent case of fraud by one of the largest IT outsourcing companies in India. I think the kind of companies that outsource are pretty well doomed and horrible places to work anyway, but the more jobs in the pot the better for everyone.

This comment was removed as it contained offensive content.

QANTAS has been burnt bad by signing up with self admitted Indian fraudsters Satyam. I hope the QANTAS managers who did this dog of a deal are being held to account.

QANTAS in Satyam Scandal

"The chairman of Satyam, one of India's largest outsourcing providers, has admitted to inflating profits for seven years"

Some of you are nothing but a sorry bunch of wankers! The only hope for you getting engaged is OTHERS actions and exogenous factors rather than your own competitiveness.

You suck BIG time! You won't have a break wether it's good times or bad times, because only thing you winy Marys do is hoping for work to land in your laps.

Looks like NAB and Telstra have been caught up in the multi billion dollar Satyam Indian IT scandal:

NAB and Telstra latest Satyam victims

Sounds like gloomyshoes and Hawkwind have been right on the money. The chickens are coming home to roost.

Telstra, Qantas, Coles, NAB and Suncorp are now caught up in this 1.8 Billion dollar scandal.

Satyam Victims

Sucked in is all I can say.

I placed links to the Satyam scandal on this BB weeks ago, way before these other guys, about the scandal involving the World Bank. And you removed my links, without leaving any comments behind to indicate that a post had been deleted.

How about now deleting these posts by these other guys which talk about the Satyam scandal??

Or has the scandal now become too widespread?? that removing these other postings would seem petty?

Editor: Sorry, I must have removed it by accident.

Too bad Ikaros!! If you can't stand the Satyam scandal and the heat coming off it, then get out of teh kitchen! Alternatively relocate to a different country, where its not so hot. Failing that... to another planet.

Ironically the word Satyam means "truth" in Sanskrit.

Guess who the London-based World Council for Corporate Governance gave the Golden Peacock Global Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance last September? None other than Ramalinga Raju.

It is interesting that the fraudulant accounting has been going on for a number of years, but no one has noticed.

Ramalinga Raju should be added to Five Harvard MBAs who wrecked the global economy

Satyam Shares Plunge After Warning of Cash Shortage

There will be many more over the next 12 months.

I wonder who is next?

Sounds like gloomyshoes and Hawkwind have been right on the money. The chickens are coming home to roost.

That is why we are no longer in the game.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24893045-664,00.html

Fraud of one man not necessary fraud by whole India. USA trillions dollars credit frauds the real story. Indian IT remain healths and growths.

Ramesh

Well, Joe, IT-wise I actually feel like I am on another planet...

WTF?!?

I am still on holidays (back next week) and still keep my work Blackberry handy (for e-mails) so I'm up-to-date with what is going on while I am away - or so I thought.

The CEO sent an e-mail earlier today about having to deal with the "current economic climate". We are a small IT consultancy shop and his announcement was about having to let go of some staff last week.

I tried to get in touch with HR and they were kind enough to call me back. On speakerphone. With my boss.

"By the way you are no longer required".

Eh?

Well, I asked for it in writing and to e-mail a copy to me. All of a sudden my (work) mobile phone and e-mail are no longer working.

How's that for professionalism!

(Note 20-20 hindsight:)Should have called later this week so that I could at least remove my junk from my phone and e-mail.

Anyway, with all of this doom and gloom (and Satyam, etc) I thought it would always happen to someone else and never happen to me.

But it did.

As you may have read in my previous posts (in other topics). Always have a "Plan B".

My new job starts tomorrow.

The bad thing is now I have to go out again and find a "Plan B" for this new role. It took me 4 months to get this one!

How lucky was that!

Another Indian outsourcing company going down

Any sense out there yet if this is having an impact?

Also especially for IT workers it is very important to invest their time by learning new, exciting skills which could help meet challenges of 21 century.

Surf's Up

American Labor Statitics.....

Total nonfarm payroll employment declined sharply in December. Large job losses continued in manufacturing, construction, and employment services, while health care continued to add jobs.

Payroll employment in December 2008

In December, the number of unemployed persons increased by 632,000 to 11.1 million and the unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has grown by 3.6 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 2.3 percentage points.

Unemployment in December 2008

Nortel Networks said on Wednesday it filed for bankruptcy protection in the US and Canada in an effort by the once high-flying telecom giant to weather the financial crisis and restructure its debt.

Once Canada's largest company, Nortel has been struggling since the dot-com collapse and a shifting of the telecommunications landscape. It was facing a payment of some $US107 million ($A161.49 million) in interest on its debt.

Nortel files for bankruptcy in N America

I was talking to someone who runs a multi-million dollar business online, and he advised me "never outsource to India".

Instead, he advises entrepreneurs to outsource to the Phillippines.

A Great Depression is coming to America and the UK. Many other countries, including Australia, will experience a recession.

New Tipping Point Coming in March, 2009

I find that with the income up and down with contracting that it's good to have a nest egg. I was looking at putting 25% of my income into a high yield savings account.

I found this great financial comparison site that help me chose the best deal:

Mozo - Compare savings accounts

Remember the work can always dry up, best to be prepared for the worst.

Cheers,

Frank