The use of contractors within the public sector is still seen by the Government as poor workforce planning. To change this misconception and educate policymakers, freelance lobby groups need to promote the profiling of different types of contractors, rather than lumping them all together.
Recently we discussed the Government’s response to its own increasing use of contractors within a National Audit Office (NAO) report, where it was attributed to a lack of professional workforce planning.
It is correct that contractors are often drafted in to fill gaps in the workforce, but the fact of the matter is contractors are increasingly being identified as essential solutions to talent shortages.
More often than not, hiring a contractor is actually best practice workforce planning.. There’s no point – or financial justification - for hiring a specialist to deliver their expertise on a permanent basis when they are only required for a few months. It is far more cost-effective to draft in a short-term contractor.
Post-recession, we saw a significant increase in self-employment. As a result, the sector had to put up with claims that it was merely a fall-back for those who had become unemployed.
Contractors have had to put up with similar misconceptions over recent years. However, subsequent research has demonstrated the true value of the contingent workforce, proving that contractors are used for reasons other than to cover fluctuating demand, illness and maternity leave.
For example, the monthly JobsOutlook from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has consistently reinforced the increasing emphasis on engaging contractors to provide short-term access to key strategic skills. Most recently, nine out of ten contractor clients highlighted this as their main reason for hiring contingent staff.
Meanwhile, contractor numbers have grown by more than a third since 2008, marking a structural labour market change as more workers opt to ply their trade on a pro-rata basis. The Government’s refusal to acknowledge the shift towards this trend in one particular public sector has generated a lot of noise.
In the UK, the vacancy rate for doctors is 7% and for nurses it is 10%. Again, healthcare unions are pinning this on poor workforce planning, but the truth is the health sector is one of many UK sectors severely hit by skills shortages.
Meanwhile, an increasing number of doctors and nurses are realising that going locum suits their lifestyle better. These individuals don’t want somebody to plan a permanent role for them. They are the long-term contractors.
The benefits are mutual. The flexible nature of locum doctors and nurses allows them to offer their expertise where and when it is needed most – keeping the health service functioning in the process.
Contractors clearly offer a range of benefits and services to multiple industries, but this is not reflected in their categorisation by official bodies who persist in reinforcing a misleading outlook.
Labour statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) point towards a sustained growth the number of self-employed – but that is as much insight as we are provided.
It’s always encouraging to see that more people are choosing to go it alone, but what portion of the rising number of self-employed are contractors? How do they operate? How many are long-term contractors and how many are short-term contractors?
The Government needs to stop using the level of contingent staff the public sector engages as a benchmark to indicate how poor its workforce planning is. The first step towards this is for it to better understand the various types of contractors and the benefits they provide.
There’s certainly an education learning curve for policymakers, but as we know, they will be reluctant to accept this. They need to be forced to take note, and those best placed to do the forcing are contracting’s lobby groups.