For contracting? Nah, $120 is low. IBM will give you a "fresher" (newly minted graduate) for $400/hour. I submit that you're thinking W-2 with benefits, on top of which you need to add at least a third. $150K/year is $75/hour, so even then it's $100/hour for a contractor. And a contractor is ALWAYS more expensive than a W-2 anyway.
For someone with experience, $150/hour is MINIMUM, no matter where they live--which isn't relevant to someone hiring a contractor anyway. -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Jousma, David Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2026 3:31 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Interesting Steve, I don’t know what part of the country you are in, but if you are asking for $120/hr W2, that’s $250K a year based on 2080 hours. That kind of coin might be normal in NYC, or LAX, but pretty much everywhere else that’s overpaid. $120-$150K/year is reasonable, which on the high-end is close to $72/hr. More power to you if you can get it. I realize you have to cover your own medical, and IRA as a self employed contractor. _______________________________ Dave Jousma Vice President | Director, Platform Engineering Fifth Third Bank | 1830 East Paris Ave, SE | Grand Rapids, MI 49546 From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> on behalf of Steve Beaver <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2026 at 3:23 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Interesting CAUTION EXTERNAL EMAIL This message came from outside your organization. DO NOT open attachments or click on links from unknown senders or unexpected emails. Report Suspicious<https://us-phishalarm-ewt.proofpoint.com/EWT/v1/MwwqYLOC6b6whF7V!rROKV5EpbsBPP4fXwtiAVJ90e0EDabFAWtfyTMjZhgXDMg3SIQqeVafYtB5HVXmFgZaxur8HpeXZPAQsIZuwl503fzLaib5IeXKMg9zhQyg$> Since there are so few of us all the Indian recruiters are starving and the companies are learning that they need to come way up or hire Kyndral at $200/Hr S This e-mail transmission contains information that is confidential and may be privileged. It is intended only for the addressee(s) named above. If you receive this e-mail in error, please do not read, copy or disseminate it in any manner. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. Please reply to the message immediately by informing the sender that the message was misdirected. After replying, please erase it from your computer system. Your assistance in correcting this error is appreciated. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
