Research released by the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE) last week revealed that, amid the ongoing “Great Resignation”, almost two-fifths of Brits (39 per cent) have considered becoming self-employed.
The study found that people working in media, marketing, advertising, PR and sales (57 per cent) and construction (47 per cent) were most likely to have thought about going freelance. Meanwhile, 30 per cent of men had considered becoming self-employed, compared to 25 per cent of women.
49 per cent of those that had considered going freelance cited flexibility, 48 per cent cited being their own boss, 48 per cent also cited improving their work-life balance. 33 per cent of all employees said that they felt they could make more money if they were self-employed.
The study, which was carried out by YouGov and polled 1,000 Brits, found that 72 per cent of employees consider the contribution made by self-employed workers to the UK economy to be either fairly positive or very positive.
The study also examined the growing side-hustle trend, with 46 per cent of full-time employees polled saying they were considering taking up a secondary income stream. Women (14 per cent) were more likely to be interested in taking up a side-hustle than men (11 per cent).
35 per cent of respondents that were already engaged in a side-hustle said they started it as a result of the growing cost of living crisis. 55 per cent of those that hadn’t started a side-hustle, meanwhile, said they would consider doing so as a result of the crisis.
IPSE CEO Derek Cribb said: “After 11 years of continuous growth, the number of self-employed workers has fallen dramatically, decreasing by 800,000 individuals since 2019. While many commentators worried that numbers of self-employed workers might continue to fall post-pandemic, today’s research clearly shows that freelancing is back! Brits are still keen to pursue freelancing, with a significant number thinking about swapping their full-time job for the dynamism, freedom and creativity of self-employment.”
Among the respondents not considering freelancing, 55 per cent said they wanted fixed regular income, 49 per cent wanted job security. 36 per cent said they didn’t know where to start, 35 per cent felt they didn’t have sufficient capital to set themselves up as a freelancer and 29 per cent lacked confidence in their ability to be self-employed.
