The data from National Statistics, which was obtained by Nixon Williams, a provider of accountancy services to contractors, reveals that between 2016 and 2017, the number of female IT contractors jumped by 24.6%, from 16,568 to 20,648. The proportion of IT contractors who are women has reached a record high, with 16.5% of IT contractors now women, up from 13.8% in 2016, 12.2% in 2012 and 9.3% in 2010.

The figures also show that the numbers of self-employed IT professionals is continuing to rise at a faster rate than the number of IT employees. The number of self-employed IT professionals increased by 4.5% over the past year, from 119,568 to 125,012, compared to a 3.9% increase in the number of IT employees, from 675,000 to 701,000. This continues a trend that began during the financial crisis.

Derek Kelly, CEO of Nixon Williams, says: “Freelancing increasingly is seen as a career as much as a lifestyle choice. In areas which suffer from chronic skills shortages, such as IT and engineering, many contractors are rarely out of work, and higher levels of pay generally more than compensate for any gaps between contracts.”

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