Is my agency mark up excessive?
- Thread starter swells
- Start date
astral
author unknown
Mr Retro said:
who do you work for?
I work for a large multi national recruitment consultancy, that covers a cross section of business, and I work predominantly in the IT sector. I don't actually do any recruitment anymore. Instead I'm a management consultant and I'm brought in to deal with contractors who are causing problems and potentially damaging our relationships with big clients. I spend a great deal of my time justifying our percentage margin on their rates
Mr Retro
Beware hedgehogs
Sorry for being nosy
I also work for a large multi national recruitment consultancy, in the IT department. I am an Apps Developer.
I love my job to be honest, it's a kick to try and help the consultants make as much money as they can by providing them with the best tools to do their job.
I also work for a large multi national recruitment consultancy, in the IT department. I am an Apps Developer.
I love my job to be honest, it's a kick to try and help the consultants make as much money as they can by providing them with the best tools to do their job.
A Dashing Blade
Takes horses to water but can't make donkeys drink
astral said:
Not a derail or a call out but with the greatest of respect, I find that very, very hard to believe (ie that on an ex-vat daily rate of £1035 to the client, you would pass on £1000 to the contractor)
astral
author unknown
tom k&e said:So on a daily rate of £100, you'd earn 4p
round about that. Which is why I manage something close to 250 people. The majority of the people that I manage are on significantly more than £100 a day, most of them between £500 and £800. On top of that because I spend so much time building relationships with clients my basic salary is more than the average recruitment consultant.
astral
author unknown
A Dashing Blade said:
well we do
actually that's not strictly speaking true. We pass it on to their limited or umbrella company, but the sentiment holds true.My point was some agencies do charge high rates (18-20% not being uncomon for a sales consultant who has found the position and placed the contractor in it), however if you are just being provided with a management facility, or have been in your position for a long period then it should be lower. And as I said earlier, we do have the lowest rates in the industry.
A Dashing Blade
Takes horses to water but can't make donkeys drink
Pingu said:
makes note to contact astral at end of May...
Miscellaneous
Princess
astral said:
Is it good practice for a recruitment company to start you on a higher salary then bring it down to a stupid level after a year of wirking with that company?
gone down from working at £10ph to £5ph and am telling them to shove it now, but they are still asking the same amount as before.
Zinedine*
Well-Known Member
I worked for a very big agency and they completely fucked me over with my pay.
I was a student and saving up to go to Cuba during the holidays so I was working all the overtime I could. One Sunday, my manager came in and said how loaded I must be with all this double pay. I was a bit confused. She explained that I should be getting time and half for any hours worked in the evening and double pay for sundays and bank holidays. I said it doesnt count because I'm working through an agency. 10 minutes later she came flying out the office. The agency had charged them the extra time and half and double pay but still only paid me a fiver an hour. wankers.
Agencies are bastards and so are their staff- thy are basically sales people only interested in commission.
I was a student and saving up to go to Cuba during the holidays so I was working all the overtime I could. One Sunday, my manager came in and said how loaded I must be with all this double pay. I was a bit confused. She explained that I should be getting time and half for any hours worked in the evening and double pay for sundays and bank holidays. I said it doesnt count because I'm working through an agency. 10 minutes later she came flying out the office. The agency had charged them the extra time and half and double pay but still only paid me a fiver an hour. wankers.
Agencies are bastards and so are their staff- thy are basically sales people only interested in commission.
astral
author unknown
Miscellaneous said:
No that's not good practice. They're just chancing their arm to see what they can get away with. If you are sure that the rate cut has come from the agency and not the end client, then go and have words with your consultant. They're most likely to tell you that the end client has cut your rate, so it might be an idea to clarify the position with your Line Manager on site.
You get £6.25 an hour, but the agency is charging £8.85.
I guess it seems a bit harsh but nobody works for free (seems you already know this). I think that the agency have to factor in a lot of people they do not find work but take the time to process and search for. Equally they have to run an office, websites, pay tax, bills etc from the money they earn.
I guess if we were really outraged by it then we could start applying to dozens and dozens of companies directly.
I guess it seems a bit harsh but nobody works for free (seems you already know this). I think that the agency have to factor in a lot of people they do not find work but take the time to process and search for. Equally they have to run an office, websites, pay tax, bills etc from the money they earn.
I guess if we were really outraged by it then we could start applying to dozens and dozens of companies directly.
Blunders500
Singing the Absurd
I was working for an outsouircing company doing 3rd line IT in a very large lawyers - my annual pay #27K, saw the monthly charge for my services - #7.5K !
The lawyers put up my annual aslary to buy me out of my outsourcers and they said no - TOSSERS - oh how different my life would have been.
The lawyers put up my annual aslary to buy me out of my outsourcers and they said no - TOSSERS - oh how different my life would have been.
pembrokestephen
New Member
In my experience as an IT contractor (in the past), agency markups generally varied from around 15% (nice agency, long contract) to 40%. At 41%, your agency's markup is at the higher end of the range, but that might be something to do with market conditions for the type of work you're doing.swells said:
If you're not happy with your hourly rate, and you have good reason to believe that the agency would put itself out to keep you, I would suggest what someone else has already suggested, and approach the agency for an increase in your hourly rate, which they should be able to absorb. I've done this in the past where an agency has got me a 3 month contract, which has subsequently been extended, on the basis that a) their markup was probably based on the fact that there's a certain amount of overhead involved in setting up a contract, so it's cheaper for them if it's a longer one, and b) I got them the extra business by being good enough at my job that the client wanted to extend.
I wouldn't want for a moment to defend agencies too much, but they DO have overheads, not least in paying their contractors in a week but having to wait a month (or more) for payment from the client, the risk element, the dodgy temps that they'll inevitably hire, overheads, advertising costs, and some measure of legal liability for their temps. Whether they should be charging 15% or 40% is a much more subjective consideration, though.
It's probably best, in the long run, particularly if you're being paid the going rate, to forget you ever saw the invoice and forget how much their markup on your work is
5t3IIa
Registered User
Minnie_the_Minx said:
I seem to recall something from my temping days that temps from different agys *should* get the same rate... i.e. me from X Agy gets £5 and you from Y Agy gets £5.50 - I tell my X Agy and they *should* give me £5.50 as long as it's for the same position. Another reason why they are so keen you don't discuss your wages.
Maybe this is an EU working regulation? Sorry, I don't have a link
