I have noticed a significant drop in hourly rates (approx $15/hr decrease) for ISD contract positions in the Pacific Northwest. Has anyone else noticed this decrease in hourly rate? The hourly rate for contract positions is now similar to a full time role which makes me question the value of contract work.

Do you have a source indicating that there is a drop in the hourly contract rate?

Contract rates depend on experience and also what a company is willing to pay someone. I've seen some companies offering lower rates and others very high rates. As for the Pacific, not exactly sure about the rates, but I wouldn't think rates would drop that low overall!

I agree - I can't say that I've really seen a rate drop - but that's out here in Chicago.

My background is mostly in IT / application / technical training design & development and the rates are all over the board, depending on experience with various subject matters.

For example, ERP experience (e.g. SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle, etc) can demand 2 or 3 times the rate of an ISD resource developing courseware for standard desktop apps (e.g. MS Office).

The market has been *booming* out here! I get quite a bit of calls for experienced contract and perm ISD resources!

~ trish

Thank you for the replies. As far as a source, I am basing the rates on phone calls from recruiters. The subject area of the training is proprietary web applications.

FWIW, a large client of mine just announced an increase in what they pay for hourly work.