for those complaining about the rates if you are a contractor with Astraeus, get yourself a tax planning measure in place. Captains on contract with Ryanair are walking home, fully tax compliant, with over 80% of their gross salary and FO's are walking out with nearer to 90%.
Concentrate on the net take home and not the gross rate. If you need to go contracting while this recession runs its course make sure you are doing it smartly. I contracted for years and always did alright out of it. My net take home pay was always as good or better than the guys on the nice full time employee contracts. Its not ideal because you are losing out on pension entitlements but its better than not working at all.