[consulting] How is the market for Drupal talent?

[Arthur Richards]

I help run a small web development consulting firm in San Francisco.
We specialize in Drupal, although we are not Drupal exclusive.

Back in November/December, things were looking very bleak - worse than
usual for the time of year.  I've never had problems looking for
programming work before, but I was starting to look for bartending and
tutoring gigs while also really beating the bushes looking for Drupal
or other programming work.

By mid January, everything had changed.  We were turning work down.
Things have stabilized now and we're working steady.  Granted, we're
not looking for work, but not many people are knocking on our door
anymore.  It's tricky to figure out what's going on in light of the
economic situation - in my experience, work tends to start slowing
down towards mid-to-late spring and picks up again in the fall, then
nose dives after Thanksgiving.  All that said, this is the busiest
we've ever been.

I am really nervous though that it's not going to last.  Building web
apps are probably considered a better investment right now than
hiring/paying employees, but we're also watching some of our nonprofit
clients' budgets dry up and wither away...

If I were in a comfortable, stable situation with benefits, etc. right
now, I would probably suck it up and stick with it - at least until I
felt confident that the economic situation was turning around.  I've
found consulting to be very rewarding, but very risky and unstable.
Just my two cents ;)

Good luck with your decision!
Arthur Richards


On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 4:13 PM, Tao Starbow <starbow at citris-uc.org> wrote:
> Hi Drupal Consulting List,
>
> I have been chewing over leaving a stable, but increasingly confining
> university job and jumping into the Drupal biz.  And then I read how were
> are in the worst global economic situation since the great depression, and
> wonder if I am crazy for even thinking about it.  But, on the other hand,
> Drupalcon just maxed out at 1400 people over a month before the actual con.
>
> So, how are you folks doing?  Struggling for every lead, turning business
> away, or somewhere in between?
>
> thanks,
> -tao
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