More than one fifth of UK workers has been a contractor or freelancer, while over two fifths would be open to giving it a go, according to a new report, Flex Appeal: why freelancers, contractors and agency workers choose to work this way,
The contracting bug is spreading, with the latest research from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) showing that over 40% of the UK’s workforce would consider temporary working. Large numbers are already actively choosing to do so.
The publication shows that the days of contracting being dismissed as a ‘minority sport’ are long gone. Indeed, it highlights that 36% of workers have already experienced temporary work – as agency workers (24%), contractors (10%) and freelancers (11%).
Workers actively choose temporary work, for its many benefits
REC chief executive Kevin Green gives the lie to those who portray temporary work as something people are forced to do while looking for full-time employment: “Working as a contractor, freelancer or agency worker is a choice for many people, and flexibility is a key reason they opt for this kind of work.”
REC's findings confirm what serious contracting and employment commentators have been asserting for many years, that contracting is a legitimate career choice and one that plays a huge part in supporting UK Plc
Dave Chaplin, ContractorCalculator
“REC’s findings confirm what serious contracting and employment commentators have been asserting for many years, that contracting is a legitimate career choice and one that plays a huge part in supporting UK Plc,” says ContractorCalculator CEO Dave Chaplin.
“Flexible working does not suit everyone, but for those it does, it offers many opportunities,” says Chaplin. These include achieving a better work-life balance, improved career advancement and focused skills development. It also offers workers the chance to potentially earn more doing work they really enjoy.”
Contractors are a significant and growing component of the UK workforce
REC’s research has highlighted quite how significant the flexible workforce has become as a component of the UK workforce. For example, an independent YouGov survey commissioned to inform REC’s report found that:
- 24% of all workers have worked in a flexible/temporary role
- 10% of all workers have been contractors
- 11% of workers define themselves as having worked as freelancers.
REC’s findings also offer insights into career and earning potential:
- 40% of workers earning over £30,000 have been a contractor or freelancer
- 22% of those earning over £50,000 have been agency workers
- 36% of hiring managers at clients were once themselves contractors or freelancers.
“Clearly, contracting offers opportunities to both earn more and to develop a future career within permanent employment,” observes Chaplin.
Contracting and freelancing is an active career choice, not recession driven
Between September 2008 and April 2014, the number of flexible workers grew by 20% from 1.384m to 1.673m. In contrast, the number of full-time employees grew by just 0.3%.
REC’s research shows that the disproportionate growth in flexible working versus permanent employment is not a symptom of the economic downturn, where workers have been ‘forced’ into temp roles in large numbers.
Yet this is the position that labour organisations such as the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have taken, insisting that workers are “doing temp jobs” because they have little or no choice about joining an “insecure vulnerable workforce”.
Rather, increasing numbers of skilled knowledge workers are choosing to work this way. Green explains: “Sometimes temporary work is looked down on as a second rate or a dead-end career choice.
“But if you talk to people who work this way, they value being able to fit work around their family commitments, can earn more, or are using temporary assignments to pick up specific skills and experience they couldn’t get elsewhere.”
Contractors should be supported, not penalised
“As the number of self-employed contractors and freelancers begins to approach the number of workers employed by the public sector, flexible workers are a constituency that policymakers should accommodate and not persecute,” asserts Chaplin.
Green agrees: “We need to do more to support people who want a better work-life balance, not penalise them. The government must simplify the tax system to ensure temporary workers are not caught out by complex rules.”
Green also highlights that as the proportion of ‘non-employees’ grows, services industries must adapt to accommodate their needs: “They should also require banks to be more accommodating of applications for mortgages from these customers, so people aren’t disadvantaged by working flexibly.”
Chaplin says: “This report is one more ‘myth busting’ piece of evidence that contracting is flourishing because it shows that flexible working is both what clients want, and what workers desire.” He concludes: “Policymakers and government need to catch up and make sure that UK Plc reaps the benefit of the flexible working trend, which is simply not going away.”