For a long time contractors in the Oil and Gas industry were highly paid, almost creating a tension in teams where they could make twice (or more) more money than a staff doing the same job. And for many of them if another Oil company would pay slightly more they would leave their job immediately, in the middle of a project, and go within a week. On the other hand, their position was supposed to be the first one to be threatened in case of bad economical climate. Actually those contractors are/were safe because this industry is always starving for the competence they have devloped by accepting of doing the same job for 20 years of more. And because the became experts in a particular field, a company could not justify to sack them.
Yesterday a contractor told me that for the first time in 20 years he knows people in process engineering who have been sacked and are not able to find another job within two months. Rumours are stipulating that oil campagnies will decrease contractor rates by 12.5%, almost a 8th of a salary is gone for doing the same job.
Not sure it is shocking. It is an adjustment back to normal (or let say towards a more acceptable limit). Back to where we shouldn't have gone anyway.
Some figures: depdending on experience and field, a contractor would easily make between 600 and 1200 GBP per day. Which sounds acceptable for a particular shor term mission for a client, but many of them are doing the same job, in the same desk for the same company for over 15 years....
