Rates up for Government freelancers

The public sector is now paying UK IT freelancers more than the media companies, according to agents' body, the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo).

According to the ATSCo iProfile Skills Survey (1st Quarter 2003), IT professionals working as freelancers for the Government earn on average £31 per hour compared with £24 per hour in media companies.

Ann Swain, Chief Executive of ATSCo, said: "The problems dotcom companies have faced in recent years are well known but to see Government contractor rates outperform them is something few would have predicted a couple of years ago."

Ann Swain continued: "Media companies and web design companies in particular have been strapped for cash. Those dotcom companies that still survive have had to savage their headcount and their wage levels.

"At the same time the public sector is proving to be the Cinderella of the IT market. The public sector is increasingly recognising the cost advantages of using IT contractors and that if they want to get skilled contractors they have to start paying for them.

"Many Government IT projects are just getting underway and some of them are truly mammoth in scale, involving data for the population of the entire country. The complexity and length of these projects means public sector contract rates should remain strong for some time to come.

"Standard software packages rarely have a big impact on the Government IT sector."

According to ATSCo, the Government relies heavily on bespoke IT systems, the development of which requires highly skilled contractors and it predicted that the growth in demand for contractors from the public sector should help stimulate hourly rates in the private sector.

What it means for freelancers?

Ironically, the Government seems to be one of the few sources of good news for freelancers. Having had it 'taken away' by one Department with IR35 and Section 660, other Departments are beginning to see the commercial value and merit in using the flexible, specialist skills and knowledge that freelancers can provide.

The ATSCo report of higher rates in the public sector, follows a recent prediction by IT analyst Ovum that the UK Government's IT market is set to grow 30 times faster than any growth in the private sector and reach £12.5bn this year with the NHS alone spending £2.3bn on computerising patient records.