Recruitment agencies are still the mainstay for contractors when it comes to finding work reveals the latest survey from the UK’s largest specialist contractor accountancy firm, SJD Accountancy.
Agency still key in finding contracts
Over a third of those questioned in SJD’s latest contractor attitude survey said they are still finding their contracts through a recruitment agency, a statistic that has remained consistent over the last two years. And although other sources such as LinkedIn were mentioned as good channels to find a contract role, its influence on finding employment remained the same across at around 2% across all surveys.
With 71% saying they had a positive experience using a recruitment agency, a 25% increase from 2012. The last six months has seen an increase of 12% of people scoring their experiences with recruitment agencies as a 4, 5 or 6 (where 6 is the most positive experience).
Of those surveyed, the recruiters which came up as being used to find work included Aston Carter, Jobserve, Hays, Sanderson, Jobsite, Hyphen, Interquest, CWJobs, Huxley, Hydrogen, Capita, Michael Page, Alexander Mann, Allen Lane, Badenoch & Clark and Rullion, Technojobs and Spring Personnel. The survey also showed that although some are opting to go direct to potential employers to find contracts, the positive relationships which many have with recruitment agencies means that they are likely to continue to choose this route as a way to secure future contracts.
Green shoots….
The survey also found that contractors are seeing a more buoyant economy with 86% of all those surveyed in SJD’s survey claiming that the general outlook on the contracting market was more positive. Well over 80% of those surveyed are also seeing their contracts extended, with contract lengths remaining stable, and more than a quarter of people in contracts for over a year. It is also clear that there is recovery in the market from earlier times of uncertainty with a 5% increase from six months ago in people saying it is “easier” find a contract.
Higher rates of pay and “no office politics”
Other results included higher rates of pay still as the top driver in contracting with 36% commanding daily rates of between £ 500 - £750, up 20% in the last two years. Surprisingly, “no office politics” (62%) has overtaken flexibility (60%) and freedom (52%) as the second most popular reason why people are opting for contracting. In addition to these reasons, almost three quarters said that contracting had a positive effect on their work/life balance, up 16% from 2012.
Managing director of SJD Accountancy, Claire Johnson comments on the survey, “This biannual survey is a great snapshot of the changes taking place in the mobile workforce today. What is clear from this latest survey is that as the industry continues to recover from periods of uncertainty, recruiters have remained steadfast in helping place secure contract roles. This helps us at SJD to understand the market and make sure our services and team are well equipped to support our clients and recruiters as the industry evolves.”
The SJD Accountancy contractor survey covered the views of around 1,000 contractor clients of SJD over the last six months in 2013. Results have been gathered from January 2012 to December 2013 allowing a comparative view of the market over a full two years.
A full breakdown of the results can be found here: http://www.sjdaccountancy.com/news-centre/contractor-attitude-survey-dec-2013
