UK Contractor market continues to grow significantly

Contractors will be interested to hear that according to the Chairman of a leading interim management provider, the latest ONS figures reveal a big rise in ‘Self Drive Workers’.

Charles Russam, Chairman of Russam GMS, has said that the latest employment figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), which were released late last year, not only reveal a record-breaking rise in full time employment, but – very significantly – a bigger rise in those members of the UK work force who are not full time on someone’s payroll.

Russam calls these people “Self Drive Workers” – because they are mainly dependent on themselves for their livelihoods.

Charles Russam said, “These latest ONS figures show that the number of UK workers who are not full time on someone’s payroll is increasing at a faster rate than full time payroll workers and now represents very nearly 47% of the total UK workforce of 30 million. 

He added, “These latest figures reveal a growing band of self-drive, independent workers – many of whom are entrepreneurs. I am not certain that government is conscious of the true number of people in Britain turning their backs on traditional employment to work in a more flexible and independent way.”

“The ONS figures don’t tell the full story, there are more shade of grey than its statistics suggest. New patterns are emerging including more people with second jobs, zero hours workers, greater numbers of contractors and interim managers, independents teaming up with others and individuals trading through a myriad of business formats.”

Jason Atkinson, Managing Director, Russam Interim also commented, “We have noted a strong rise in the number of people coming into interim management over the past few years and according to our latest Snap Shot Survey figures, companies are willing to pay handsomely for specialists – typical of an economy moving into better times. Daily rates are at an understandable high because there is a renewed war for talent going on, with a skills crunch at senior levels in many sectors including financial services, manufacturing and engineering.”  

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