IT contractor growth is outpacing the economy - and full-time employment

Number of freelance IT professionals rose almost twice as fast as those in full-time work

The number of self-employed IT workers (contractors) has risen significantly faster than the growth in full-time employees in the sector over the last six years: almost twice as fast, according SJD Accountancy.

Since 2010, the number of full-time IT professionals has risen from 509,000 to 659,000: a 29.5 per cent rise. However, freelance IT workers have grown from just under 77,000 to almost 120,000, or 55.4 per cent growth.

The number of self-employed workers in the UK workforce saw much lower growth than the IT sector, climbing 20.7 per cent since 2010: from 3.9 million to 4.7 million.

Freelance working is traditionally a riskier proposition than taking full-time employment, but the number of people doing so has risen since the 2008 financial crisis - especially in high-demand areas like IT. Derek Kelly, CEO of SJD, said, "Economic uncertainty, which has been compounded by Brexit, has persuaded many organisations to defer hiring and look to contractors to plug skills gap."

Women disproportionately drove the IT contractor rise. Although still massively outnumbered by men, they made up the majority of new freelance IT workers. Almost 14 per cent of contractors in the sector are now women (16,700), versus 9.3 per cent (7,200) in 2010.

The flexibility of working as a contractor, says SJD, is likely to appeal to many women, who may have children to take care of.

"There are more women in IT in both permanent and temporary roles, but the increasing proportion of contractors who are women is particularly significant as contractors tend to earn more than their permanent counterparts, which suggests that the pay gap between men and women in the IT sector is likely to be narrowing," said Kelly.

Contractor pay is rising, in line with competition for skills; cyber security experience is particularly in demand. SJD says that the proportion of IT contractors earning more than £500 a day has grown from 39.1 per cent of the market to 42.1 per cent over the last 12 months.