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Agency aims to make a killing on Y2K weekend

by Sylvia Pennington, VNU Newswire

Two London IT contractors have launched a short term staff placement service on the Internet in a bid to cash in on corporate Y2K panic and programmer greed over the millennium period.

Contract2K is looking for skilled staff to register their interest in working immediately before, during and after New Year, specifying the dates they can work, minimum hourly pay rates and preferred locations.

They will then be asked to sign contracts guaranteeing their availability under these conditions.

The service will be marketed to large companies that are looking for people to fix last minute problems or want extra staff to babysit their systems during the rollover.

Contract2K director David Ellis, a contract programmer in the banking industry, said many businesses would look to lock in extra staff to deal with unexpected problems as the deadline drew closer.

We will approach companies once we have the contractors availability, Ellis said.

Whether companies will be willing to pay the hefty rates short term contractors are likely to demand is yet to be seen, although some may have no choice.

Most contractors are likely to want at least double their normal rates, in line with the hefty premiums many industries are having to offer staff to tie them in for the celebratory weekend.

Ellis said contractors were likely to demand between #500 and #5000 a day, depending on their skills.

Contract2K will vet all CVs and would not sign anyone who did not have proven employment record, Ellis said.

The company plans to enlist established contract agencies to help market the service and expects to make a margin of between 10 per cent and 30 per cent.

To comment on this story email newswire@vnu.co.uk

) 1999 VNU Business Publications Ltd

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That's roughly the equivalent of a year's salary for one week's work ("babysitting"), if my exchange rate is right.

I don't mind "babysitting" for a well-mannered 7-year old. Not sure I want to "babysit" thousands of unruly spoiled bugs, however. Any takers?

-- regular (zzz@z.z), July 02, 1999

Answers

I would NOT take $10,000 in gold coin up front tax free for 12/31/1999 - 01/01/2000.

-- curtis schalek (schale1@ibm.net), July 03, 1999.

I agree with Curtis. Any programmer who wants money so badly that he agrees to be around when the BIG ONE goes off is greedy beyond plain stupidity. I am one programmer who plans to be a far as possible from corporate and government computing when TEOTWAWKI begins.

-- Mr. Adequate (mr@adequate.com), July 03, 1999.