A new research survey has found that interim workers like freelancers and umbrella company contractors often receive better pay than permanent workers.
While it may not be the only good reason to leave your permanent job and strike out on your own as a contract worker, getting paid better is certainly up there near the top of the list. In fact, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation just found out in their latest monthly survey that more than one out of every three employers choose to pay interim workers better than their permanent, full-time ones. Not only that, but the same number of businesses (36 per cent to be exact) said that they pay their freelancers just as well that they pay their permanently contracted staff. On top of that, an additional 56 per cent of those surveyed by the REC said that temporary staff are always paid the same as regular employees.
In other words, an overwhelming percentage of contract workers are getting paid equal to full staff members or better than their permanent counterparts. That leaves only around 2 per cent of business owners who say they routinely pay their regular employees better than their freelancers.
This is of course absolutely brilliant news for any workers currently thinking about pulling the trigger on becoming a temporary worker themselves. The yoke of permanent employment, while it carries a modicum of security, can certainly chafe the shoulders of more independently minded Brits; while a freelancer or a contractor often needs to spend time and effort in lining up clients, with this new revelation that their pay will equal what they would earn as a traditional employee – or even exceed it – it’s one more reason to jump ship, if you ask me.
So what’s driving this demand for contractors and what keeps pay packets so competitive? Well I’d like to think that the skills shortage is to blame. With less availability overall when it comes to permanent employees, the jobs market has responded by enticing freelancers and umbrella contractors with attractive pay rates. It’s certainly an encouraging trend if it continues – and it’s likely to continue until the permanent employment market evens out or the whole economy collapses under its own weight. You can guess of course which would be the preferred course of action.
