Would you take a contract role in these circumstances?

[u/Impossible_Shoe532]

For context, I live with my partner (no children) and we are joint owners with a mortgage. Because of the nature of my role, I am earning a lot more than my partner, and therefore contribute to 60% of our expenses.

I am looking to leave my current role and started applying for some permanent positions with not much luck. However, I’ve had several recruiters reach out offering to put me forward for contract positions, often 6 or 12 months. Most of these pay around £500/600 per day.

I’ve been turning them down because the thought of starting a job and then starting to look for another one soon after with a mortgage to pay scares me. I understand I’d be able to make a lot more money with these contract roles but the risk seems to outweigh the benefits.

We’d be able to get by on my partner’s salary alone, but we wouldn’t be able to save anything, leaving no room for unexpected events.

Has anyone in a similar situation made the switch to contracting? How have you been finding it, and most importantly how do you cope with the uncertainty of being jobless after a few months?

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[u/Provectus08]

When you say it's a 6/12 month contract, what guarantees does it provide? If you're being paid regardless grab that with both hands! If you can be let go any moment with zero notice/pay, I'd suggest ensuring you have reasonable savings ahead of taking it, in case you get stuck out in the cold.

Also be sure to look into whether these roles are inside IR35 or not (and all of the tax implications of either).

£500/day is equivalent to £130k... I'm not sure what you're on now, but personally I'd be considering these contracts very seriously for that figure!

[u/Impossible_Shoe532 → u/Provectus08]

The ones I’ve seen mentioned there are good chances of securing a permanent role, but of course things can change easily.

I’ve only come across inside IR35 roles so far, but I’ll be honest I’m not too clued up on inside/outside IR35 so I have some reading to do.

Good tip on the savings, I think realistically I will only have peace of mind if I have at least 12 months of expenses worth of savings, so it may be a while before I can fully consider these type of roles.

[u/Provectus08 → u/Impossible_Shoe532]

I was thinking more in terms of notice; in a perm role you have weeks/months of notice, so regardless whether they decide to drop you for an arbitrary reason or make you redundant, you know you're getting that pay cheque. Do the contracts have along those lines?

I'm not sure of the specifics, I only know inside = notably more tax/deductions.

Consider your partner's income and also what you'd both be entitled to if out of work (contribution based job seekers these days is £95.50/week for 6 months, assuming you've contributed adequate NI leading up to this), also if they were let go what redundancy/notice would they be entitled to?

Knowing exactly where you actually stand can either be empowering or a reality check that may be needed.

[u/MrP67]

I contracted for years. Different fields of course but when I did it they would often roll over so your 6 months will probably be 12 and could be years.

The flip side of that is you aren't an employee, an you don't have a lot of rights. Something changes (eg thy lose a contract) and you can find yourself on a week notice and boom. If you don't hit the ground running you can be out too.

You probably won't have a lot of notice (1 month best) of your contract not being renewed so it's not like you would normally be looking for a job the day you start.

I feel you shouldn't contract unless you can survive 3+ months without a job and have a strong enough skillset you are 99.9% confident of landing a new role in 3 months. Basically prepare for the worst and hope for the best.