Sorry, but I don't agree with that at all. You're propagating the myth that contracters are supposed to be shit hot developers, the 1%, and that's simply not true. While it might be true to a degree in the US, it certainly isn't in the UK. Most contracting positions in the UK are for bog standard .net / Java developers doing grunt work, not hit-the-ground-running/take-over-the-project developers. An average/reasonably-ok developer with 5 years experience is fully qualified to contract in the UK, and shouldn't expect any serious downtime.