Good Start
Parity recently announced that, although they had some problems in other parts of their business, Resources has made a good start to the year.
The statement they put out to the Stock Market covers the trading period staring from January 1st 2008.
According to the company:-
“Resources has made a good start to the year. As a result of our market focus we are experiencing continued strong demand with first quarter gross margin rates improving over the same period in the prior year and
contractor numbers growing through the quarter.
“We are keeping discretionary spending tight, whilst gradually increasing our selling capacity to be able to respond to the market opportunities that continue to emerge”.
Another One
That's yet another agency who have said that the IT Contracting market is healthy and that they see no clouds on the horizon for the coming period.
The agencies are the dog who didn't bark in the night as regards the credit crunch effect on IT Contractors.
Whilst the pundits are saying that the market is going to go through the floor and that it is already weak, the quoted agencies, who are closer to the ground floor than anybody, are saying that not only is the market perfectly healthy but they see no change to that on the horizon.
Still Negative in the UK
Of course that could all change and sentiment is very negative in the UK, but already sentiment is beginning to turn, where they are saying that a full scale recessions is not likely to happen now and that we are already over the worst.
Of course, home owners with large mortgages are going to be hit but the economy has kept going when house prices were going down in the past.
Once agencies start producing Profit Warnings for the Stock Market then I'll start to believe that the IT Contractor market is going to be hit.
No Real Effect
It's been quite a while since the credit crunch arrived and there has been no real effect on the IT Contractor market outside specialised banking.
In previous downturns IT Contractors and agencies were amongst the first to be hit. They're not usually one of the last – but that is what we are being asked to believe this time.
I know that some in the Financial sector are taking the opportunity to cut IT contractors rates by 10%, but that appears to be opportunistic as the agencies are telling us that the market is doing very well.
Our Duty
In not too long a time we will know whether we are in serious difficulties but this still appears to be like 1987 when there was a major Stock Market fall but the economy, and
IT Contractor market, kept going upwards for the next 4 years.
I think it is the duty of websites like this to give IT Contractors not only the data about what is going on in the market but also an analysis of that data too.
Still Waiting
The Stock Market and the credit crunch came in February of this year – and we are still awaiting any effects on the IT Contracting market.
It hasn't tumbled.
Indeed it is doing the opposite and rising.
The biggest agencies are all telling us this no matter what Jobstats is saying.
Remember Jobstats is just about job ads – and only for Jobserve.
What the agencies are talking about is real contracts, real contractors out and real rates and margins.
