So a new survey released recently says that it’s never been easier to score new gigs as a contractor, and it’s all because competition for clients has dropped.
The UK Job Market Report from job search engine Adzuna says that over the past five months, employers are positively tripping over themselves in their efforts to create more vacancies. What this means is that there’s plenty of temporary positions to go around, and now freelancers and umbrella company contractors can pick and choose from a wide field of opportunities instead of having to fight tooth-and-nail for just a few new clients.
Well, it’s still not easy pickings by any stretch of the imagination – it’s not like you can just email a few firms and wait for the project offers to roll in. Still, Adzuna’s report says that where there were 3.2 jobseekers for every position in the UK in June of 2012, this year that figure has dropped to just 2.9, indicating that it has indeed become easier to secure a new gig.
It’s excellent news no matter how you slice it, if you ask me. Of course a lot of this ‘improvement’ in the number of vacancies could have a bit of a sinister side in the form of that skills shortage that everyone’s going on about like it’s the end of the world; industry experts are absolutely mad over the possibility of there simply not being enough skilled and qualified workers to keep up with the demands of the employment market, and I’m sure there are some that will see this reduced competition and absolutely panic because they think the sky is falling.
Yes, I know it sounds a bit cynical to just dismiss the fears of another economic slowdown because of a skills shortage, but the possibility just seems a bit remote to me. I mean come on, there’s still nearly 3 people for every position right now; when we get into figures where there’s literally not enough workers to go around, then it’s obvious that we’ve got a problem.
Until then, I say we should enjoy the prospects of being able to land gigs just that much easier than we were able to just last year. The more of us contract workers there are earning cash, the more money pours back into the economy through our spending after all, so let’s get out there and pull in a few pay cheques so we can save the UK economy, shall we?
