Death of the permanent job

Hemel Hempstead, UK – SJD Accountancy, which claims to be the UK’s largest accountants to contractors and freelancers, has reported a 70% rise in the number of contractors coming into the market and going limited.

The accountancy firm, who manage the tax affairs of over 10,000 limited companies put the increase down to factors including ongoing pressure to cut costs and remove permanent headcount in the private sector.

According to figures from YouGov, around a third of the UK workforce would like to create their own company. Unemployment, graduates struggling to secure jobs, the virtual demise of final salary pensions, job security and zero percentage wage rises, is pushing many people’s hands.

“Historically, the contractor and freelancer market has been dominated by IT contractors,” said Simon Dolan, managing director of SJD Accountancy.

“However, in the past few years there has been a shift in that we are seeing many traditionally permanent job roles being converted into contract positions including HR, sales, marketing, healthcare and engineering,” he added.

According to SJD, currently, nearly 50% of all new clients are from sectors outside of IT.

“With permanent jobs no longer making people feel secure within their roles, we feel the future will see a lot more people wanting to take back control by contracting or setting up their own company,” forecast Dolan.