Contractors are seeing the benefits of the sharing economy
Andy Chamberlain, the Deputy Director of Policy at the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE), wrote an article for TheGuardian last week – in which he explains more about what the ‘sharing economy’ actually is. Not only that, he also explains why it can be extremely usefulfor contractors and freelancers, which was of great interest to us here at Nixon Williams.
The sharing economy addresses opens up new ways for contractors to find work, via online platforms which simply didn’t exist previously. As an industry, itis predicted to be worth £9bn by 2025, and in the article Andy Chamberlain explains how contractors are taking advantage of this new way of findingbusiness. Online platforms are being used more and more, to market contractor skills and so to find and win new contracts. This ‘digital network’, as Andyrefers to it, connects contractors and clients – by enabling users to look view the profiles of available contractors, and then engage with them directly.
Also quoted in the article is Rich Pearson, Senior Vice-president of Marketing at Upwork – one of the digital networks which Andy referred to. According toRich, businesses in the UK are increasingly choosing online methods to find the skill sets they need, as he comments:
“With access to a global talent pool, they are able to find the talent they need when they need it, and as a result are bypassing local skillsshortages. At the same time, professionals are also taking advantage of online work opportunities and offering their skills and expertise to businessesaround the world.”
During 2015 there was a 30% rise in UK business spend on hiring expertise online, so it’s clear this is an ongoing trend. As Andy puts it, “The sharing economy model is increasing efficiency and lowering the costs of doing business.” – which we think pretty much sums it up!
If you feel that now is a good time to make the move to contracting, then please call our New Business Team on 01253 362062 or email craig.whelan@nixonwilliams.com for further information.