Is a cycle of hiring permanent staff and then making them redundant after 1-2 years due to 're-alignment of business goals' / 'changes in priorities' normal in the technology industry? This behaviour hardly seems justifiable, and here in the UK it is questionable whether it is even legal.

I begin to wonder whether some of this behaviour I have seen in this economy is due to the companies involved not wanting to pay premium rates for contractors (who I must admit in my opinion often offer no more value), and using 'redundancy' e.g. "sorry joe, you're not needed any more", as a convenient way of recreating the contracting scenario.

It seems in this situation if you're a valued developer your job probably is never at risk, but I can understand it being a worry for people and I don't think it is fair on those who are mislead into thinking that they have a longer term career with the companies which do this.