06-Feb-2013 17:31

Increased Self-Employed Figures - helpful or otherwise…?

A new survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has confirmed that the number of self-employed workers rose by 367,000 between the years 2008 and 2012.

A high proportion of the increase, about 60%, was in the year 2011 > 2012 & interestingly too, the number of self-employed aged 50+ has increased by 84% since 2008.

By June 2012, there were around 4.2 million self-employed workers in the UK representing almost 15% of the whole workforce.

Other statistics showed that the self-employed worked, on average, 38 hours per week, which is two hours more than employees.


So, is this a good sign for our economy with the self-employed showing vision, initiative, a relish for a challenge and perhaps peer or family pressure?

Or is it a sad indictment of a society with reducing opportunities & jobs, companies downsizing, a feeling that there may be few other options, a real sign of economic weakness and a worrying trend?

What are your experiences?

Norman Feiner - Director & Founder, SimplyFone Limited