The difference in pay between contractor and permanent position in the UK is almost weird. The job is exactly the same, often for a duration of several months to years, and full time, except as a contractor you get paid like 2 or 3 times more. There are advantages to work in a permanent position but that doesn't make up for the massive loss in revenue.

Job security is a huge psychological factor. I'm starting on my own this very month, and deep down I'm incredibly scared that in a year I might be without a roof on my (and my children's) head.

In the UK I guess it depends a lot on the region, those are not, for example, London rates, right?

I do contract webdev work for a multi-national in the middle of nowhere in Connecticut. The london office posted a job that is exactly what I do but is paid 5 times less. At the Edinburgh office, 7 times less.

Same company, same upper-upper-upper management, but VASTLY different pay scales. Its nuts to think about, especially when I can rent a full 3 bed/3 bath house with basement and garage for about 2 times less than a 1 bedroom flat in London.

Part of that cost of rental is location. London is a world class city, highly desirable by millions of people as a place to live.

Connecticut isn't.

I completely get that, but I'm paid for the same position 5 times more. The wage they are providing my position in London isn't even livable without roomates. I could (if I wanted a terrible commute) afford a nice apartment in NYC for what I'm paid. If the UK gov't wasn't so anti-immigration, I could actually afford a pretty decent flat in London for what I'm paid as well (on top of the house I currently rent).

The post was not about London vs Connecticut but about pay-scale relative to the cost of living.

You won't be living in world-class accommodations in London on that salary, which is the entire point.

> London is a world class city, highly desirable by millions of people as a place to live

London is a great place to be, but horrible to live.

Anecdotally, it doesn't seem so. Even straight out of University with 0 years experience, salaries among my cohort seemed to be between 30-40k GBP and this was some years ago.

Not to say that there isn't companies making terrible offers in London, but I don't know people working for them.