Economic Upturn and Financial Regulation Boost IT Contractor Rates

Economic Upturn and Financial Regulation Boost IT Contractor Rates

Europe-wide shortage of skills for Solvency II and Basel III compliance coupled with financial services investment drive up contractor rates according to latest Clarity Contractor Index

According to year-on-year research by specialist recruitment agency, Clarity Resourcing, business-change and programme management contractors working in the financial services sector could be earning, on average, 11 percent more per day than their current rates. The Clarity Contractor Index, constructed by job title and practice, showed that rates have increased for most contractors from Q4 2009 to Q4 2010.

Adam Sztuka, Managing Director of Clarity Resourcing commented, “IT contractors were hit hard when the recession took hold and financial services organisations cut projects and budgets, but this has now bounced back. Regulatory changes introduced by the Financial Services Authority such as Solvency II, Basel III and RDR has created a strong demand for high calibre contractors experienced in business-change and risk management.”

Clarity Resourcing has seen a surge in day rates for programme managers, senior project managers, project managers, workstream managers and business analysts. These contractors earn on average 20 percent per day more now than they did in 2009 as the skill sets required for effective business change are essential to delivering new business critical projects on time and to budget.

The Clarity Contractor Index showed that contractors in certain application development areas now earn on average 16 percent more per day than in 2009. For ETL developers and BI/BO developers, that number more than triples to 52 percent and 65 percent per day.

Workers in the testing practice earn on average three percent more per day than in 2009. Audit managers and programme test managers earn approximately nine percent less over the year, whereas configuration managers and performance testers earn more than 10 percent per day.

Sztuka continued, "There are significant benefits to utilising contractors for technology & business-change projects. Not only can organisations avoid the operational overhead and commitment of a full time employee, they can expect specialist expertise from people who are agile enough to adapt to a changing business environment.”

“Organisations wishing to attract the best talent should keep a close eye on market rates. Contractors should also compare their rates against the wider market as even a three percent per day increase over a three month period is a significant pay gap.”