What Are You Seeing in the Market? – Insights from Practice Manager Ryan Eastwood

Staying closely connected to both our clients and candidate network means we hear the same questions asked time and time again - especially in times of uncertainty. Practice Manager Ryan Eastwood recently shared his personal take on the state of the Salesforce contract market. Read Ryan's take on the market below, offering both insight and practical advice for those navigating what many would agree is a challenging time in the market. 

‘What are you seeing in the market?’ – I am asked this question on a daily basis and it's a similar one to which I ask on almost every call to people I speak to these days.

What’s my answer to this? It’s slow, it’s maybe the slowest contract market I’ve seen it in the last 18 months. And those 18 months were not exactly booming!

Sales Cycles seem slow for Partners and no doubt Salesforce themselves - which seems to be having a natural knock on effect to the contract market. Contractors I’ve known for 4-5 years – who have never been out of work - find themselves looking.

Of course, there are broader economic factors globally causing uncertainty which I wont go into here but we know uncertainty equals hesitation most of the time.

My aim here is not to darken your day with doom and gloom but to just let anyone reading this know, you’re not alone if you’re feeling it at the moment.

The market will bounce back, it always does. In the meantime, here are a few tips from me on ways to give yourself the best chance of landing something:

• Stay close to your network: Referrals go a long way in a crowded market. Speak with ex-colleagues, friends in the ecosystem and recruitment contacts who you know & trust.
• Tailor your CV: The days of having 1 blanket CV are on pause. With so much competition you want people and companies to see that you’ve done exactly what they need and how you achieved that (remaining honest throughout, of course!)
• Be as flexible as possible: IR35, Rates, Travel. I’m not suggesting drop your rate to whatever is available or to start commuting 4 hours a day, 5 days a week to make a contract work but perhaps start to consider what you could make work. Could 2 days a week on site boost your chances of getting the role? Could 6 months of working Inside see you through to a better 2026?

And if you’re a manager reading this, who is currently juggling two peoples jobs just to keep your Salesforce org running – now is a great time to buy experienced, reliable resources at a competitive price.

More contractors are open to flexible models like working 2x 20 hours per week contracts. You don’t need to sign off on full 6 month, 40 hours per week budgets just to get support.

Need a bug fixed? Need it identified? Get someone in, make the most of the market and let someone help take some of the extra weight.

Reach out on Ryan Eastwood for any more info on anything above!