If you’re a freelancer or an umbrella company contractor and your IT skills aren’t up to par, you’re not alone – but you also could be selling yourself short.
At least that’s what Lloyds Bank and its latest UK Business Digital Index says, as its research has revealed that 23 per cent of SMEs in the UK have what it calls ‘inadequate digital skills.’ In real world figures, this means more than a million freelancers, contractors, sole traders and other SMEs are lacking in IT skills – and Lloyds says that this could be causing untold horrors when it comes to the British economy.
But wait, there’s more: Lloyds found that a full one out of every 4 small firms felt that it wasn’t a big deal to not have a strong online presence. While this might have been true ten or even five years ago, today the landscape is markedly different: so many people spend so much bloody time online nowadays that it seems almost impossible to avoid – and if you’re not a part of this digital landscape you’re missing out on potential business.
The report says that SMEs need to be better educated about how beneficial digital skills can be. Good news is that with more firms looking for qualified workers with these skills, the demand for IT contractors could go through the roof. In other words, prepare yourself for what could possibly be a deluge of demand.
And what comes with heightened demand? Well it’s simple – your pay packets are likely to go up as more companies end up having to compete for a limited resource – i.e. IT contractors. That means you’re likely to have your pick of the litter whilst all these firms gaze up at you with their big, sad puppy dog eyes, eagerly waiting and hoping you’ll pick them to take them home with you.
Well, you know what I mean. You might not bring home a new client and cuddle them into bed with you, but you also won’t have to take them out in the middle of the night to take a wee. Unless that’s part of your job description – in that case you should be charging double.
