New data has illustrated the extent to which employers are turning to freelancers to plug the widening skills gap impacting the UK workforce. However, despite the importance of self-employed workers, the Association for Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) says that legislation is currently not set up to support a flexible labour market.
According to recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), UK unemployment has fallen to its lowest level for 50 years, with the number of open job vacancies now exceeding the number of unemployed people in the UK.
As employers seek to find people to fill these roles, data from APSCo has revealed that they are increasingly looking to contractors to fill both temporary and longer-term needs. Between March 2021 and March 2022, contract vacancies increased 24 per cent, while there was a 13 per cent year-on-year increase from April 2021 to April 2022.
APSCo CEO Ann Swain said that there was a “continued demand […] for highly skilled contract professionals as the talent shortages remains a challenge for UK employers.” However, despite the growing demand for contractors, APSCo has argued that the flexible labour market is currently being constrained by legislation and a lack of clarity over employment status.
APSCo Global Public Policy Director Tania Bowers said: “It’s clear that the future of the labour market needs to be flexible, dynamic and fair, but current legislation is not designed to support this. The self-employed have a crucial role to play in the skills short environment that we are experiencing and in order to ensure these individuals are adequately supported and able to operate in a flexible manner without being penalised is important.”
“We’re already seeing Off Payroll case law impacting this segment of the market and the UK is at risk of diminishing its own flexible workforce if action isn’t taken. Self-employed status needs to be defined in legislation that differentiates highly skilled self-employed independent professionals from dependent contractors, workers, other variants of self-employment and the lower skilled, less independent elements of the gig economy.”
The APSCo has also criticised how the government has handled the Employment Bill. Among other measures, the bill would have delivered greater safeguards for contractors and more protection for workers against pregnancy discrimination, but controversially wasn’t included in the 2022 Queen’s Speech.
