Agents Screw Contractors
Do agents screw contractors?
IT Contractors have always wondered how much money recruiters are paid and what their incentive structure is. Here we reveal it.
Here are examples from IT agents who posted to the Agency Forum on www.ComputerContractor.net
I‘m not totally sure but from other comments on the thread I think that the figures here refer to monthly billing.
How Agents Screw Contractors – Commission Example 1
1. £0 to £7,500 – 10%
2. £7,500 – £15,000 – 20% (of that portion)
3. £15,000 – £40,000 – 30% (of that portion)
4. above £40,000 – 40% of everything
How Agents Screw Contractors – Commission Example 2
1. £4,999 threshold
2. to £9,999 10%
3. to £14,999 15% of total
4. to £19,999 20% of total
5. £20,000 and up is 25% of total
6. when I overachieve my target (year) there is an extra bonus + incentives
7. overall company achievement incentive (quarterly) – weekend in a European city for the whole office.
Agency Dirty Tricks
How agents screw contractors.
I think here that we can see that there is no need for agencies to tell recruiters to use dirty tricks on contractors to obtain leads.
They simply incentivise them and then leave them to their own devices.
Also, if you were to get 40% of everything you pulled in over a certain figure would you not try and get as much of the contractor‘s rate as you could?
If, for example, an IT recruiter could take £300 a week of the contractors money then, if he or she was able to beat his or her threshold then the recruiter would get £120 a week into his or her own pocket.
It‘s the system, you see.
It is all set up to try and get as much money from placing contractors as they can.
Forewarned When Discussing Rates with Agent
There‘s nothing wrong with that. It‘s just that the contractor should know what the situation is when they are discussing rates with an agent, or when they get a call from one.
Thinking of your agent as ‘˜your agent‘ is a complete mistake. Too many contractors think that they and the agent are in the same boat and that the agent will represent the contractor‘s best interest.
As long as IT contractors know that the relationship is one where they are both fighting for the best share they can get of the same moneypot, and that when they get called about a job the recruiter may be ‘out hunting‘ for leads that will get him or her new business – and lots of lovely commission.
So, there you are!
That’s why agents screw contractors.
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