Tech Contractors In Short Supply; Perfect Time For Contracting

For contractors with technical skills, now is the ideal time to take the leap into contracting, according to an article on the ContractorCalculator website.

The most recent Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) JobsOutlook suggests that there is currently a desperate need for employers to hire contractors; as many as four in ten (39%) UK employers have zero capacity to take on further work without hiring additional workers, cites an article on StaffingIndustry.com.

The survey also found that nearly a quarter (24%) of employers anticipated a lack of temporary workers specifically with technical and engineering skills, and a staggering 99% plan on hiring more contractors in the next 4 months to a year.

According to ContractorCalculator’s CEO Dave Chaplin, this survey should give technical permanent workers considering contracting “the confidence of knowing that not only is there an acute shortage of their skill sets now, but this demand is likely to be sustained over the long term.”

Kevin Green, REC’s chief executive, claims that the concern is where employers will find the skilled workers to carry out these projects. The answer, says Chaplin, is contractors; not only can they be more “productive and motivated” to carry out projects at a faster rate, they are also “a mechanism for redistributing skills that are in short supply more efficiently.”

In addition, the report also confirms that the amount of temporary workers (including contractors) who are taking home more money than they would have as a permanent employee has dramatically risen. This figure now stands at 41% – more than double compared to March 2014, when just 19% claimed to earn more than their counterpart employees.