The world of work is experiencing rapid change.
- There is a shortage of full-time jobs for the number of people who want to work full-time: different work options need to be considered.
- The ‘job for life’ concept is dead: work is in a state of flux.
- Times are uncertain: mixing employment and self-employment reduces the risk of 100% going it alone.
- More companies and firms are seeing contracts and freelance as a wise choice to resource for specific business/client needs: ‘pay as you go’ appeals to companies rather than increasing permanent headcount, with the risk, legal and financial implications this entails.
- The number of good well-paid jobs is reducing: self-employment is driven by the need for professionals to sustain the living standards to which they have become accustomed.
- Self-employment in professional occupations has risen by 37%: the highest rise of all types of occupation.
- One-third of the self-employed community are part-time self-employed and account for half of the rise in self-employment since 2000: the number of people who work for themselves but do less than 30 hours a week has grown by nearly 65% from 2000, compared with 20% growth in the number of full-time self-employed.
- There is a growth in portfolio careers: the number of people who work for themselves in addition to being a conventional employee has grown by 31% since 2000.
- More than 40% of women have become self-employed since 2000: twice the growth rate of self-employed men.
- Women are creating self-employment growth: accounting for 60% of the increase in self-employment since the economic downturn in 2008.
- Self-employment and portfolio careers give people a vehicle for independence, enable them to be in charge of their own destiny and have more meaning: Italian economist Paolo Verme states: “freedom is by far the most significant predictor of life satisfaction”.
- A portfolio career is satisfying: you can set your own rules, have autonomy and flexibility and design it around family needs and personal choices. It also enables people to feel more in control and have greater influence. 82% agree that it is more meaningful than a typical job.
More reasons why portfolio careers are growing in the next few blogs.