As the PCG prepare to celebrate their fourth National Freelancers Day later this month, the stock of freelancers and contractors continues to rise, shown through the latest data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies. They found that the number of permanent jobs available over the last year fell by 2%, whilst temporary placements rose by 4% over the same period.
Echoing the recent ONS employment figures and research from the REC’s JobsOutlook, the data from APSCo has confirmed the continuing trend of temporary workers being preferred to permanent staff. Their Chief Executive Ann Swain said that this could still be due to businesses lacking the confidence to take on more permanent staff, although she added that this is not necessary a bad thing.
“Whilst an increase in temporary placements may not appear good news as permanent hires fall, the use of contract workers is offering a great deal of flexibility to both employers and employees.” Ms Swain added that the recent positive GDP figures should hopefully lead to more permanent hiring of staff.
APSCo also reported that amongst the professional sectors they measured, which included financial services and engineering, it was the marketing and media sector which saw the biggest growth in temporary placements, with a 7% increase.
The PCG recently utilised freelancers within this sector with the production of a number of films to celebrate their upcoming National Freelancers Day, and these can be viewed on the ICS website.
ICS are proud supporters of the National Freelancers Day are one of the leading contractor accountants and administration companies. We help thousands of contractors and freelancers working in a range of industry sectors. You can contact us now for a tailored proposal based on your individual circumstances as a contractor.
