More self-employed good for UK – but Government policy must keep up
- 18 Jan 2017
IPSE has responded to the latest ONS employment figures, which show the number of self-employed people in the UK rose by 133,000 to 4.77 million in the three months to November 2016.
Lorence Nye, IPSE Economic Policy Adviser, said: “We’re seeing a prolonged trend of more and more people taking the leap and becoming their own boss, and more companies seeing the value of freelance talent. That’s a good thing for the labour market. Roughly half of the UK’s self-employed are the highly skilled professionals ensuring we remain one of the world’s most flexible, knowledge-based economies. They’re on hand to help companies manage peaks and troughs in demand, especially in these uncertain times, and they’re able to innovate faster than any other type of business.
"The changing nature of the labour market highlights the importance of the Government-commissioned Matthew Taylor review of modern employment practices. We hope it creates a better understanding of the new ways people are working – and how employment status and tax legislation can reflect them.”
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