A recent comment, which proposed that many of today’s freelancers are simply ‘odd jobbers’ who would return to full time employment if they could only get a proper job, has been hotly defended in The Guardian this week. The debate sprung up after reports of recent self employment growth figures were brushed off as no more than an influx of ‘handy men’ – and women of course! Media comment from journalist John Harris, in response to the original CIPD report, led PCG Managing Director John Brazier to write to The Guardian to defend the UK’s 1.6 million (and growing!) freelancers.
Mr Brazier described John Harris’s comments as no more than ‘a rant’ which belittled the freelancing community, and went on to draw attention to professional freelancers many different sectors, such as IT and telecoms, engineering, oil and gas, marketing, management consultancy, pharmaceuticals and of course, the media! He went on to say, “These are men and women who consider themselves freelancers, self-employed, skilled and professional. Recent research by Kingston University for PCG showed freelancing has grown strongly in the past decade. The past three years has seen a 12% growth among independent professionals alone; these are not vulnerable workers but drivers of economic growth in the UK. Freelancers offer industry and commerce a flexible talent stream when and where it’s needed. A fact recognised by the prime minister, Scotland’s first minister and a host of business and other political figures, but sadly, not by John Harris.”
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