About the Flexible Workforce

Contributing around £100 billion (PCG, 2007) to UK PLC per annum, this crucial workforce needs co-ordinated representation.

The Flexible Workforce & FCSA

Sometimes known as the ‘flexible workforce’, the professional freelance workforce is referred to as ‘contractors’, ‘freelancers’ or ‘interims’ and represents a significant section of the jobs market.

Working on short term, interim contracts, which can last anything from 1 month to over a year, professional freelancers have a hugely important role to play. Many different industries find there are times when additional resource is needed, for example, the IT, engineering and creative industries often require key skill sets for particular short term projects, while in other industries, notably healthcare and teaching, permanent staff are often in short supply and freelancers fill the gaps. In these instances, employing permanent staff would be time-consuming and a financial burden, so interim contracts provide a solution in a way that’s cost-efficient for the company while being financially rewarding for the freelancer.

The sector is relatively young but highly valuable. In 2008, FCSA members alone are estimated to have been responsible for some £920 million of pay and for helping deliver £261 million of PAYE and National Insurance revenue for HMRC. Between 1998 and 2008, it is estimated that the sector grew by as much as 20% (Kingston University/ONS Labour Force Survey).

FCSA members’ core clients are highly skilled professional contractors and freelancers. 64% work in IT, 14% in engineering and 7% in accountancy and finance. Others work in telecommunications, marketing, healthcare, and education. The average salary is an FCSA customer is £43,556, over 60% earn over £61,000 per annum and 28% earn more than £85,000 per annum. Contractors rate lifestyle factors as the leading ‘best thing’ about contracting. This relates to the desirability of flexibility in respect of work-life balance (41%) and personal control (27%).

Vulnerable Workers

Whilst the vast majority of FCSA members’ clients work in highly skilled, professional roles, FCSA recognises those concerns that exist about the potential exploitation of low-paid, low-skilled vulnerable workers operating in the temporary labour market.

FCSA members have developed a level of understanding of the UK flexible labour market that is second to none. FCSA is keen to use that knowledge to help inform the debate surrounding issues facing the freelance industry and to ensure that key policymakers have the thorough understanding of the market that is necessary to ensure informed and effective decision-making.

We support efforts to put in place an appropriate regulatory framework to protect those individuals from that threat. In order to ensure its effectiveness that framework needs to be based on a clear and comprehensive understanding of what constitutes the flexible labour market. All-too-often a ‘one size fits all’ approach to Government policy fails to recognise the potential for unintended consequences and that those who choose to reject traditional permanent employment structures in favour of freelancing do so because of the benefits this lifestyle delivers. The outcome is that vulnerable workers remain susceptible to exploitation and the benefits that flexible working delivers are lost to both individuals and the UK economy as a whole.

Our experience tells us that the best way to understand the freelance labour market is recognise that it is multi faceted, rather than a single, homogenous entity. Our view is that there is a spectrum of workers in today’s market as illustrated below:

We believe that Government action to protect vulnerable workers should recognise the existence of these different groups within the flexible labour market. Policy should be based on a targeted approach that recognises that those in each category have distinct characteristics and so can be differentiated in terms of the protections required. For example, an IT consultant will often have made a lifestyle decision to be based at home and to work for himself whereas a nurse may have taken a temporary position whilst seeking a permanent position, a move that may require more safeguards to be in place.

FCSA works hard to ensure that a more balanced, informed and sophisticated view of the flexible working market is presented to key policymakers and politicians. We believe that that the knowledge, experience and expertise our members have built up over the years can and should be used to ensure that action to protect vulnerable workers is proportionate, targeted so that all concerned can realise the benefits of flexible working without fear of exploitation.