Wed, 17 Dec 2014The number of IT specialists moving into self-employment has increased by 48% in five years, up 143,000 in 2009 to 211,000 in 2014, according to research by international professional services consultancy Procorre.

According to Procorre, the number of contractors in IT is growing at one of the fastest rates for any sector and is being driven by rapidly growing business investment in IT, which is underpinned by several factors. These include:

• Businesses unlocking budgets for IT investment after a considerable period when cost-cutting by businesses meant IT projects were viewed as a low priority

• The explosion of the ‘app economy’, estimated to be worth £4bn to the UK economy this year but expected by some to rise to £31bn by 2025

• The growth of mobile commerce (transactions via mobile devices) means that businesses are investing in their web presence and e-commerce system to make them compatible with mobile devices

• Businesses are investing in cloud computing for data storage and software to offer their employees greater flexibility and boost the productivity of a business

Procorre says that with more upcoming projects requiring their expertise, IT specialists are in a strong position to pick and choose which projects they work on.

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