Britain’s business and economic climate is undergoing a period of unprecedented change. Words and phrases that two years ago would only have found voice in the deepest chambers of Whitehall - recession, budget deficit and credit crunch - are now common parlance, now part of our conversational DNA. Though while our linguistic flexibility is to be celebrated, we now need to ensure that this flexibility is extended to conceptions of the UK workforce. The predictions by the CBI for the British business model (The Shape of Business - The next 10 years, 2009) are unequivocal: it will be leaner, more flexible and more collaborative.

Within the Freelancer & Contractor Services Association (FCSA) we have already seen UK employment patterns changing in the wake of the financial crisis, shifting under the burden of business models reacting to regulation and fiscal constraints. If we are to accept the predictions of the CBI, it is clear that as recruiters and service providers, we will play a central role in steering the UK workforce, and indeed the UK economy, back to productivity. We will do this by drawing attention to and creating an environment that values and supports the UK’s flexible workforce.

We are not alone in seeing the value of such endeavours. The CBI states that ’labour market flexibility will remain our real competitive advantage’. And while the recession has undoubtedly accelerated the flexible working trend into a necessity, it is a model we all should and must embrace. We can expect greater innovation within the employment model as economic conditions necessitate moves away from traditional, permanent contracts. Hiring specialist contractors on temporary contracts presents clear commercial benefits, moving us closer to that leaner and more collaborative prototype identified by the CBI. However, the benefits of flexible working are not solely economic but sociological, arguably benefiting the nation at large.

Service providers and recruiters must work together in eschewing the old refrain that a temporary contract is an insecure one; that a temporary worker is a disposable one. We must overturn that misguided myth that a professional contractor or temporary worker is somehow less skilled than one in possession of a traditional ’permanent’ contract.

Service providers and recruiters must work together in eschewing the old refrain that a temporary contract is an insecure one; that a temporary worker is a disposable one

Importantly, a recent study by the Professional Contractors Group (PCG) puts pain to that notion; identifying that for most the move into freelancing is a positive choice indicative of a spirit of enterprise and professional dynamism. PCG’s study showed that 41% of those surveyed chose to become freelance due to a desire to strike a better work-life balance. Just 5% became freelance because they couldn’t find any other employment. Having worked as a freelance professional contractor and recruiter for a substantial period of my life, I add a personal testimony to their findings having reaped the benefits of personal development opportunities and an enhanced work-life balance.

Now in my current position as chair of the FCSA - which represents companies that provide employment, payroll, tax, accountancy and administrative support and advice to the professional freelance workforce - I am determined that the benefits of flexible working to employer, employee and the country at large are recognised, both socially and legislatively. We have already seen a raft of ill-advised legislation - namely the HM Treasury consultation
process on the issue of subsistence and travel expenses relief for freelance workers employed by umbrella companies - that demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of how the flexible workforce operates, ultimately posing a threat to its productivity. FCSA is proud to have successfully engaged government on this issue, as well as on the National Minimum Wage provision, drawing out recognition of the flexible workforce’s different populations and the perils of blanket legislation. The different constituent populations that make up the flexible workforce - their varying skill sets, gender, age and ethnicity - must be recognised and appreciated by government and stakeholders if we are to harness, foster and reap the rewards of their multifarious assets.

FCSA is composed of three of the biggest companies in the sector, all of whom operate to industry-leading professional standards. We know only too well that the management and control of the flexible workforce must be organised to benefit all parties, particularly the workers themselves. Our code of conduct - which an HMRC spokesperson “welcomed as an example of self regulation in practice” - outlines the strict standards and legal guidelines that apply to the service providers sector (now available to view online at www.fcsa.org.uk) and is designed to encourage best practice across the industry, allowing recruitment agencies to be secure in the knowledge that they are dealing with compliant companies. We know that we can expect an increasingly flexible professional future: service providers and recruiters must rally together to create an environment, which allows Britain’s flexible workers to thrive.