Software Deployment

Hi, I am from London, UK. I have been working as a scripter for approximately ten years - mainly for financial organisations. The global recession has majorly affected me. I haven't worked since the end of September which is unheard of despite looking hard for work. I am prepared to work anywhere! Seems that a lot of companies - particularly in the city - have employment freezes going on and people in ALL job roles are being made redundant. Sadly, it appears that a further 600,000 people will loose their jobs in the UK this year. I have had only one interview since the end of September and this wasn't for a scripting position. Unfortunately I didn't get the position as I was not the correct fit for the company culture. I am hoping that something will come up for me this year. There appears to be a few more positions available. My friend, a fellow script who lives in Atlanta, US has experienced a similar thing. There have been three phases of redundancy but thankfully he's still hanging in there. Let's hope something materialises soon.

Hi,

Here from Southern California.
I am seeing way less opportunity here. Two packagers I worked with at previous contracts are out of work right now.
I feel blessed and thankful for having a job, luckily I work for a company that is still doing quite well.

I am delighted to say that I have just started a three month contract working in the Public sector for one of the councils. However, it is based outside of London, quite a trek for me to drive to every day and a much lower rate compared to what I have been used to. I am NOT complaining though, just stating the situation. Happy to have finally found something though exhausted [:)] and hoping those looking find something soon.

Hi

I'm from Sydney, Australia. On job sites, there are less opportunities in packaging, however, I still do get around 2-4 calls a week for packaging positions (not only in Sydney but also Melbourne, Queensland and Canberra). The only problem is that the rates are not what they used to be (average packaging job rates have definitely gone lower), I guess it still depends on how well you can negotiate if you wanted a reasonable rate.

What are the contracting rates you guys are seeing in the UK and AUS? In Canada we're able to get about $40-$70/hr USD depending on experience and value-add skills (SMS/Radia/etc).

For a junior packager probably AU$40-55/hr, mid-level AU$60-75 and senior AU$80-100/hr

I am in the US. So far it hasn't affected me, I consider myself lucky. My contract is still going fine. I have got loads of work for the next 4-5 months at least. I hope the economy gets better soon for all of us.

Turbo Kitty - I am glad to hear that the rates in Western Canada are healthy. My application for Canada PR was approved a few days ago and I am planning to move to Canada in the next 6-12 months. I am open to move anywhere in Canada, but I would like to know the market/rates for packagers in GTA and Ontario. I work on Wise Package Studio, SMS 2003 and little bit of MS-BDD

Thanks, Jim.

There are very less opportunities in the US today. I saw a total of 85000-90000 IT jobs in dice.com a year ago. Now its around 55000-60000 IT jobs. I saw at least 50 contracting opportunities in Packaging/SMS-2003 in dice.com a year ago Now its around 10-15.

Can anyone recommend job sites for the US and Canada? Only ones I really looked at were Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com

US - www.dice.com
Canada - www.workopolis.com
I am not too sure of Canada. Some one in Canada like turbokitty might be able to give the best answer.

Canada is a small market so a lot of the contract positions don't ever get posted online. If they do, they usually go to workopolis (link above).
Your best bet is submitting your resume with all the contracting agencies you can find (there are lots of them) as they have contacts with the companies requiring contractors.
The Greater Toronto area is the easiest place to find work in Canada traditionally as it has most of the head offices. Ontario is hurting right now as they are getting the brunt of the recession so far, so the opportunities may have dropped off a bit there.
Western Canada will slow down too, we're already seeing it in Alberta. We're just lagging the east by a few months.

Thanks turbokitty. How is the supply-demand ratio in Canada (now and before)? Also, where can I get that list of contracting agencies, is it readily available somewhere or is it something that you have personally built one over time yourself.

Thanks, Jim.

I think supply/demand is favoring employers, as you'd expect in a recession. I don't think it's affected rates yet, but I imagine it will.
There's still work out there, but if you can sew up a longer-term contract, now would be the time to consider doing that as a hedge against what's possibly to come.
As for the list of contacting agencies, I don't have one. Just cruise Workopolis for any IT job and you'll see the contracting agency names and web sites there. A couple of big ones are TekSystems, Sapphire...but the big ones usually treat you the worst and take the most off the top, so don't limit yourself.

I would say that is happening already now. I have been here in Toronto for about 2 months, and have scanned all recruiting, job listing web pages, and sent out about a hundred e-mails, but no luck jet. And especially in packaging field there is total silence. I see some vacancies in Montreal or Vancouver, but not here... strange, and its too bad because any packaging job is 100x times more interesting than some network/system/database admin..But at this point even those are totally overfilled with resumes. Ill keep on looking ... [sm=rolleyes.gif]

turbokitty gave his inputs on rates. I would like to hear your input on rates (now and before) in the Toronto region for packagers. I got my Canada PR approved. I am thinking of moving there in the next 6-12 months. Appreciate your inouts.

thanks, jim.

It is affected the job market a lot. But still you can find some jobs .. i have scanned workopolis, monster and my personal favorite - it.jobfairsonline.ca

Hi Everyone,

There are very less opportunities in the India.Present clients want limited resources.
And we can't shift in any othere company.

I think in general job prospects for the average consultant / contractor are reduced. If you know what you are doing there are still ways to make things for work for you.

I am no longer chasing the packaging avenue (hence why I post here less) and following a different path. I think thats more from boredom than job prospects however. I am seeing a move from Outsourced packaging to the inhouse model. Good if your a trainer bad if your a packager, it will come full circle again after the in house realise how difficult it can be with unprepared staff.

you spelled it wrong it is http://it.jobfaironline.ca without "s",a nd they have quite lot of sources.

I'm in Queensland, Australia and I was doing some remote packaging work for the last 2 years for various EU and US Companies. Since the credit crunch these have dried up to the point where the company I was working for has all but shut its doors.

There isn't really a lot of Packaging Jobs in Brisbane A.T.M, perhaps 1 new advertised role every other week. Mostly packaging is Canberra/Sydney/Melbs.

D

Sydney's pretty much dried up, most of the roles are currently in Melbourne although some are starting to pop up in Canberra again.

I totally agree with John that if you know what you're doing then there are definitely ways to ride this thing out.