New working ways have flex appeal

Jo Faragher

A survey published by the REC this week found that more than one-third of people in the UK have held a position as a contractor, freelancer or temporary agency worker at some point during their career. What’s more, an increasing number of people see this as a long-term way of working.

The REC’s report, entitled ‘Flex appeal: why freelancers, contractors and agency workers choose to work this way’, highlights the coming together of two important trends. On the one hand, many employers recognise that access to a flexible workforce can help them scale up and down according to demand; on the other, that the UK working population is less hermetically tied to the idea of a full-time, permanent, ‘job for life’ any more.

It found that 41% of respondents are considering working in a more flexible way in the future, many driven by a desire to work independently. That said, the main reason for choosing a temporary role for 43% was that they were unable to find a permanent job.

As our workforce becomes more fluid, more flexible for whatever reason, REC chief executive Kevin Green hits upon an important point. That employers (and crucially, managers) don’t look down on temporary work as “a second rate or dead end career choice”. In start-up technology companies, for example, a team of freelancers or contractors to get things up and running could be the difference between success and failure.
Green said: “We need to do more to support people who want a better work-life balance, not penalise them. That’s why we want employers to do more to treat their temporary staff like the rest of the workforce, with better communication from managers and training.”

And he’s right. Research has shown that workers who get to choose how they work and dip into a portfolio career have a far better work-life balance and give more to each project they work on, something every workforce could benefit from.