The self-employment story behind the statistics
This article appeared in Recruitment Agency Now.
The ONS confirmed last week that there are 31.77 million people now in work – up by more than 550,000 in the past year and by 2.7 million since 2010. This represents a record high of 74.5% employment, while unemployment (at 4.9%) is its lowest in more than a decade.
But these headline figures don’t completely convey what’s going on behind the scenes, namely a marked rise in people making the choice to work for themselves.
As the Association for Independent Professionals points out, “the number of self-employed workers is soaring, growing almost four times faster than employees, and this is a sign of a long-term structural change in the labour market”.
This structural change, the growth of the so-called ‘gig economy’, is a positive choice for many freelance workers. There are risks attached to being self-employed, but the freedom of being your own boss and being able to ramp up work or scale back when necessary appeals.
Read the full article here.