My brother is an IT contractor in the UK and has just completed a series of four articles on his transition from the world of permanent work to that of contractual work. One of the interesting points he makes is that, with the downturn in the global economy, on of the main barriers to becoming a contractor (the lack of job security) has been significantly diminished as large companies start to fail and roll out massive layoffs.

The four articles can all be found at http://www.contractoruk.com or you can click to them from here:

1. Diary of a first time IT contractor – Making the jump
2. Diary of a first time IT contractor – Deciding how to trade
3. Diary of a first time IT contractor – The first day
4. Diary of a first time IT contractor – Lessons learnt