The popularity of working as a freelancer or umbrella company contractor is soaring ever higher, according to an industry insider that knows more than you or I.
The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed’s chief executive, Chris Bryce, said recently that the barriers facing Brits getting into self-employment are breaking down left and right. The CEO of the absurdly long-named trade industry body was referencing the newest statistics from the Office for National Statistics, as the new Labour Market report from the government office reporting that Brits delving into becoming their own boss went up by 6.6 per cent year on year, leading to nearly 15 per cent of the British workforce being made up of freelancers, contractors, and other self-employed blokes and birds.
It’s a multi-generational phenomenon, explained Bryce, stating that Brits straight from university and pensioners alike are all getting in on the act. There are more women joining the ranks of the self-employed than ever before, with the chief executive referencing the ONS figure that claim self-employment in women is up 8.6 per cent from last year as well.
For what it’s worth, Bryce may be the head of the most ungainly named organisation in the UK but he’s likely right. There are other figures backing him up; Procorre said recently that when it comes to senior manager and director level contract workers, these individuals have flocked to self-employment in droves. From 2009 their numbers swelled to 739,00, up from just 502,000 – that’s a 47 per cent increase, for those of you keeping score at home.
For what it’s worth, this is some good news indeed considering how National Freelancer’s Day is literally around the corner. The event on November 19th will be the a real barn-burner this year, according to Bryce, and with such luminaries as shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna throwing support at the sixth annual industry shindig self-employment has obviously become a force to be reckoned with in the UK.
So what’s the next step? Well if you ask me we need to turn self-employed Brits into a voting bloc. Let’s get some MPs signing on to our cause and maybe we can get some of these ridiculous business regulations struck down or altered to be more supportive of the needs of freelancers and contractors and not so focused on giant multinationals that are frankly run by a bunch of bastards.
