Half of UK working population could be freelance by 2020

Half of the British working population could be self-employed freelancers by the turn of the next decade, according to a study by PeoplePerHour.

The assessment of the self-employed labour market suggests it is growing at a rate of 3.5 per cent each year, quicker than any other sector; so much so that half of all people in work will be operating in a freelance capacity should this growth continue for the next five years.

The survey goes on to suggest that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can potentially save almost £6,300 per employee per annum by hiring freelance professionals.

The average waste or spare capacity per day for small businesses was 1.9 hours per person. By hiring freelance professionals as and when required, this could save wages of up to £6,297.17 per employee.

Freelancing is becoming a much more appealing prospect to experienced professionals with the knowledge and expertise to work for themselves. Improved methods of communication online and the always-on mobile industry mean that self-employed professionals and supply their services to an endless stream of customers worldwide.

The emergence of these such ‘hyper-specialists’ increasingly allows flexible businesses to divide work into component parts that can then be subcontracted to hyper-specialists across the globe.

Xenios Thrasyvoulou, founder, PeoplePerHour, said: “The self-employed workforce is growing by the day, and on-demand services are being required more and more.

“Speed and accessibility are today’s buzzwords and it’s no different when making recruitment decisions. It is literally a whole new economy in the making.”



Image: Jude Lee

Date published 24 Jun 2015 | Last updated 24 Jun 2015