More than one out of every four firms polled in a recent survey reported that they plan on hiring more temporary workers over the next three months.
According to a new survey conducted by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, opportunities for freelancers, contractors, umbrella company workers, and other agency workers will be increasing by 27 per cent over the next three months. Not only that, but the REC discovered that the number of businesses that will be reducing how many interim workers they employ over the next quarter now stands at only 11 per cent, a drop of 2 percentage points from September’s 13 per cent figure.
The REC’s director, Roger Tweedy, commented on the new survey findings, remarking that the figures highlight how little an affect the new Agency Worker Regulations actually had on recruiting temporary workers, even one year after the new regulations came into force. Employer confidence has obviously stabilised, Mr Tweedy added, stating that with a reduction in the number of worker cuts the overall growth of the economy, albeit slow, is marching on steadily.
This spells even more good news for contract workers, whose services have already been in high demand due to the flexibility they offer employers. Hiring contractors on a per-project basis is much more cost effective than using permanent workers for the same positions, and with permanent roles being thin on the ground, many former employees have transitioned to contractors instead in an effort to continue to successfully earn a living.
