IT contractors face lower web development payments

Date: May 11, 2010

Category: Finance for Contractors

IT contractors involved in web development projects are seeing 36 per cent lower average pay rates than at the height of the dotcom bubble, according to new research.

Typical freelance web developers currently earn around £40 to £45 an hour, down from £60 an hour around a decade ago, figures from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) revealed.

With the explosion of Java in 1995, companies had to build ecommerce and web applications from scratch, it explained, but nowadays most solutions are available "off the shelf".

Huge numbers of developers jumped on the bandwagon just as the market nosedived, APSCo said, meaning there are more IT contractors than positions available for them in the sector.

"The skills shortages that existed back in 2000 are nowhere near as acute ten years on, so rates have never really recovered," it added.

Figures from IDC have also hinted at a difficult year ahead for IT contractors, with a demand for services not expected to rebound in the next 12 months.

Posted by Sarah Putt