Contracting is gaining many new recruits who can’t find work by any other means, according to an increasing amount of anecdotal and statistical evidence. Some workers are choosing to turn this threat to their livelihoods into a career opportunity, by positively embracing contracting, rather than accepting it as a stop-gap until the employment market rebounds. In some sectors, that may never happen.
Employees are still being made redundant in considerable numbers. Many of those unable to find new employment are choosing self-employment and part-time work. This is according to labour force statistics from the Office of National Statistics, which also show that self-employment topped 4m in the summer of 2010, the highest ever on record.
There is also increasing anecdotal evidence, from well-placed sources – such as ContractorCalculator’s own Contractor Doctor – that many workers, even those in managerial and professional posts, are being told to that they can keep their job, but no longer as an employee. They are being asked to resign and then take temporary and fixed-term contracts, as ‘quasi-contractors’.
But for each horror story we hear, there’s another that shows how an individual who, from all outwards appearances has been forced into contracting, then never looks back. They’re part of a growing band of ex-permies who have turned the tables on their circumstances and are making a huge success of their new-found careers as a contractors.
Not all of these new opportunistic contractors are finding it easy, otherwise they wouldn’t be turning to the Contractor Doctor for help and advice. But the support framework for new contractors is stronger than it ever was, and certainly worlds different from when I started contracting in 1997. New contractors can find over 30 interactive tax and salary calculators on our website to help them with their money. We have over 500 guides covering every aspect of contracting, and the Contractors’ Handbook is a must-have reference guide for newbies and old hands alike.
The contractor services sector is unrecognisable from a decade ago, and a contractor can be trading via an IR35-friendly contract within a matter of days. Membership organisations such as PCG exist to offer support to new contractors. The UK’s agency sector is one of the most flexible and dynamic in the world and able to find work for people with every conceivable skill and experience.
Leaving the comfort of employment and being cast into the potentially cold uncertainties of a freelance and contracting lifestyle is not everybody’s cup of tea. But many of those who do appear to be pushed, rather than making the leap voluntarily, are being positive and turning potential adversity into opportunity.