Freelancers’ confidence in business and the economy has been restored after dips in the previous quarter, according to new research.
A survey of nearly 1,000 UK freelancers consisting of members of IPSE, the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed, and registered freelancers on Elance-oDesk, found a net positive outlook on business prospects.
IPSE’s Freelancer Confidence Index found an increasing confidence in the UK economy, reversing the trend over the last three quarters. It also found that freelancers continue to outperform the earnings of typical employees by a considerable margin. Freelancers’ average quarterly earnings have reached £30,000, some 20% more than employees earn in a year.
Other key findings from the index include:
- Day rates have seen a 1% growth since the last quarter, rising from £525 in Q4 of 2014 to £531 in Q1 of 2015;
- The majority of freelancers (56%) expect day rates to stay at current levels, while 27% expect them to increase and 17% anticipate a fall;
- Capacity utilisation of freelancers has reached record levels, with 87% of freelancers under contract;
- More freelancers are reporting an increase in the volume of work undertaken over the past three months (38%) than those reporting a fall (20%). This is the highest percentage of freelancers recorded reporting a rise in activity;
- Business confidence for the coming three months has risen from 3.95 to 9.42; the 12-month outlook index rose from 0.6 to 7.19.
Suneeta Johal, IPSE’s head of research, education and training, said: “This optimism is accompanied by an increase in both net earnings and day rates. Over the last twelve months, day rates have risen 5.6%, which along with an increase in the number of days worked, has contributed greatly to freelancer earnings outperforming that of employees and the increasing business confidence seen in the report.”
Hayley Conick, UK country manager for Elance-oDesk, said: “Business confidence is clearly on the up. With a third of freelancers experiencing a growth in work volume over the last three months, the general outlook is very positive indeed.”