IT Contract vacancies "Outside IR35" back to pre-lockdown levels

Outside Spy is pleased to report that IT Contract vacancies advertised as “Outside IR35” are back up to pre-lockdown levels.

Outside Spy has been monitoring the level of IT contract vacancies since the start of 2020, when we first launched our service to bring all the relevant advertised vacancies “Outside IR35” to the attention of our members in one easy-to-search database.

Since lockdown, in common with most other areas of the jobs market, the number of advertised vacancies has been falling, reaching a nadir in June. Since that time, there has been a slow recovery, and finally last week saw a recent daily high of 177 advertised vacancies, the highest daily total since March 16^th (pre-lockdown).

When asked for his views on these numbers, Outside Spy co-founder Brian Stalley commented;

“Many contractors are expecting the market to take a bad turn next April when the new IR35 rules kick in, but we feel that the market has already absorbed most of the change, and the worst is behind us. Many larger companies put in place assessments ready for the measures to be introduced in April this year, and, although the new IR35 measures were delayed a year, those companies have continued to assess and advertise contracts on the basis of their assessments. Smaller companies will be unaffected by the incoming legislation. It’s very encouraging to see that the number of contracts being advertised as “outside IR35” has returned to the levels achieved in March, pre-lockdown, a trend we hope will continue to accelerate.”