Record levels of self-employment take UK closer to full employment
IPSE, the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed, has responded to the news that the number of self-employed workers in the UK rose by 209,000 to 4.70 million in the three months to April 2016.
Lorence Nye, IPSE economist, said:
“The continued rise of self-employment is great news for the UK. More and more companies are recognising the value of flexible labour to find workers with specialist skills, as and when they need them. Freelancers alone – who make up around 40% of the entire self-employed population – contribute £109bn to the UK economy every year, so when self-employment thrives, everybody benefits.
“The number of full-time self-employed has grown five times as quickly as the number of full-time employed, showing that people are having success finding work independently. Additionally, our research shows the vast majority are extremely satisfied with how they work and most would not consider working for someone else in the foreseeable future.
“These people are happiest being their own boss and fitting work around their life – and these are the factors that have driven the massive growth in self-employment over the last year.”
