New research predicts that the number of small and medium sized businesses will grow in 2014, and there are whole cadres of contractors waiting in the wings.
The business landscape is in such good shape that Clydesdale Bank is betting that SMEs will apparently begin springing into being from whole cloth this year. Not only that but existing SMEs will be poised for growth according to Clydesdale Bank’s research, and this means only one thing: these new and expanding businesses are going to be keen to create new roles and fill vacancies.
This is of course fantastic news for freelancers and umbrella company contractors, as contract workers are a favourite of small business owners when it comes to controlling costs even in times of growth. Interim workers can be used only when there’s need for them and then part ways with a company, which is so much less costly than what new permanent employees can do to a firm’s payroll.
I can only hope that Clydesdale Bank’s figures are accurate. I mean I don’t know what kind of criteria they used to determine if the entire SME population is poised for growth – they likely just took a small cross-section and they’re extrapolating out from that. This is usually just fine, but you can do some rather dodgy things statistically if you don’t have a large enough sample or if you cherry-pick your data. Not that I would ever in a million years accuse Clydesdale Bank of doing something like that – I mean we all know how honest and forthright bank executives are, right?
Look, I’m not trying to take the piss out of Clydesdale Bank. Well maybe I am just a little bit, but its research is most likely spot on, and this is good news for contract workers looking to increase their workload. Still, most contractors are already burning the candle at both ends thanks to the skills shortage, so I don’t know how beneficial this will really be for the contracting community. Eventually we’re going to run out of freelancers and we won’t be able to keep up with the demands of the employment market – and this could lead to an overall collapse of the economy as demand for workers outstrips supply to the point where British firms end up outsourcing overseas. This would put a serious damper on the amount of money the average Brit can earn in a situation like that!
