The next 12 months are shaping up to be filled with opportunity for positive growth for self-employed Brits says the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.
Freelancers and umbrella company contractors are in for a banner year in 2014, as the REC says that market conditions are exceedingly positive. Salaries should be on the rise as well, with the industry body predicting that freelancers will need to use accounting services in increasing amounts to help them manage their financial boon.
A full 48 per cent of companies – nearly one out of two – said they have plans to increase the number of interim workers they use during the first quarter of 2014. An additional 43 per cent said they had no plans to cut staff levels when it came to contract workers – and that means only a paltry 5 per cent of firms said they were planning on slashing their temporary workforce over the next three months.
For the entirety of 2014, the figures remained largely the same. 55 per cent said they were keeping their figures steady while 38 per cent said they would be hiring new contract workers throughout the next 12 months. Only 7 per cent said there would be a slight drop in their use of freelance personnel over the course of 2014.
All in all, this looks very positive for anyone working in the contracting industry or who is considering a transition from a permanent worker to a freelancer or an umbrella contractor. It’s also indicative of how much the skills shortage might be hurting some businesses, as the firms with quality workers are very keen to hold on to them or to find more like them – but with the available number of qualified workers out there for these vacancies lower than ever, these firms could be very hard-pressed to find good people to hire, even on a temporary basis!
Still, if you’re a contractor looking to take on more work this year, you’re likely going to be able to find it. Especially since there’s not going to be enough freelancers to go around to take on all this work. This also means you should be able to more or less write your own ticket. Just remember – put some of that cash away for the future in case the economy nose-dives again. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
