The contracting landscape has changed over the years, with freelancers and umbrella company contractors now needing to be more skilled than ever.
At least, that’s what one new research study has discovered. A survey of temporary workers like freelancers, umbrella workers, and other self-employed Brits revealed that more than 6 out of every 10 temporary workers feels that short-term contract workers have needed to hone their skills more and more as time goes on. On top of that, nearly three out of every four freelancers said they feel temporary positions need to provide higher levels of autonomy and self-management than ever before as well.
So that paints a bit of a bleak picture for anyone looking to get into the freelancing or contracting marketplace right now. However, there was some significant good news; according to the research findings, a full 70 per cent of self-employed Brits have at the very least a decade’s worth of experience. This means that when it comes to specialised or senior vacancies, they’re likely to have the skills and expertise to qualify for these roles.
Education is high as well among freelancers and contractors, with around 75 per cent of self-employed workers having at least a Bachelor degree. This more or less destroys the myth that temporary workers were just individuals desperate to make cash or made up of recent school leavers; instead, it’s proof positive that contracting isn’t a fly-by-night profession any more. This is likely due to the massive influx of Brits turning to freelancing due to the credit crunch late last decade, trading in their redundancies for a job that they control themselves.
Employers also seem to be taking freelancers much more seriously than they have been doing in the past as well, the research found. Around 58 per cent of businesses say they have welcomed contractors by offering specialist on-boarding training for these individuals. Not bad if I do say so myself!
All in all, it’s good news if you ask me. Sure the requirements for freelancing and contracting seem to have been increasing incrementally over the years, but the skills and expertise of contractors and freelancers have been keeping pace with these newly heightened requirements fairly well. With businesses also adapting to the new employment market – one that’s soon to be dominated by self-employed Brits – there’s little that contractors need to really worry about as long as they keep honing their skills and continuously thrive to be their absolute best, don’t you think?
