Poll of Engineering Contract Professionals Reveals 72% are Not Happy with Their Agency

Online, September 26, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Seventy two percent of professional engineering contractors are not happy with their contract agencies, according to an informal LinkedIn poll conducted by Good Pay Low Rates. Thirty-three percent of respondents report being unhappy with their contracting agency, 6% are very unhappy, and 31% are neutral. Twenty percent report being happy, while 8% report being very happy.

Nearly half of the respondents are engineers. Among engineers, 61% report being unhappy or very unhappy, 31% feel neutral, while only 8% report being happy. None report being very happy.

Randy Y., a contract Software Engineer, said, "I simply resent the situation in which the company scrapes a significant amount off the top for little investment in time."

Chris L., a contract Senior Software Engineer, said, "companies in my area are using multiple agencies and I get the same listing from multiple sources. Of course then it's a gamble to pick the agency who won't get the rug pulled out from under them."

Steve C., Chief Technology Officer at a small consulting firm, said, "in many cases, the contract agency is merely a mechanism to sap money out of my pocket. They provide no useful services to my corporation and provide no useful services to my customer."

Tuomo S., an IT consultant for a small start up company, said, "agencies never get the project right. It always is more than agreed, rush and no time to find out, but you do it anyway because of your reputation."

Reagan T., a software engineering manager for a medium sized electronics manufacturing firm, said, "we did not expect contractors with the experience and abilities we sought to come cheaply, but the agents' cut seems inordinately high compared to the value and hassle they brought to the table. A contractor was not able to start on the agreed date because agents within an agency wanted to squabble about which one he was signed to. Another contractor had to stop work temporarily while he worked to get his agency to comply with their agreed payment schedule."

Bruce D., a contract principal systems engineer, said, "my agencies have been good to me. I've always been paid on time and the reporting requirements were reasonable. Unfortunately, there's not much work in my specialty right now, so they are all having a hard time finding me work."