Interim Management and Self Employment in 2019

As we head towards the end of the year, many employees will turn their thoughts to their career goals and aspirations and a high number of employees in permanent roles will be thinking about working for themselves, or as interim managers.

A survey by the Association of Independent Professionals and the self-employed (IPSE) found that the most popular reasons to leave regular employment were: better-work life balance, control of work and maximising earnings.

Throughout 2018 we have seen negative press about 'disguised employment' and the workings of Uber, negative sentiment toward the 'gig economy' and it is unclear whether the Government will introduce the proposed far-reaching changes to IR35 for the Private sector in April 2019.

The Interim Management Association has lobbied the government sending a clear message that to proceed with rushed reforms to IR35 in April 2019 would create upheaval in the private sector and risk damaging the flexibility of the labour market.  

The McKinsey Global Institute published a report in 2017 that found that 20-30% of the working age population in Europe and the USA engage in independent work. From this total, 30% (49 million) were fully independent free agents, working as interims or freelancers to earn their primary income.

The Institute for Public Policy and Research (IPPR) in association with Odgers Connect recently analysed the size, nature, and extent of the ‘professional gig economy’ in the UK and found that almost one third of people working in the professions are now self-employed (33%).

The occupation with the largest number of self-employment is ‘managers, directors, and senior officials’, with 800,000 people in this classification identifying as self-employed, or 17 per cent of all self-employed people. A proportion of these will be established Interim managers. The ‘professional, scientific, and technical’ sector has the fourth highest levels of self-employment by industry, and again, a high proportion of those working under this classification will be interim managers.

With the report concluding that the fastest growth and largest sector of self-employment is ‘managers, directors, and senior officials’, with 800,000 people, this looks would indicate that the Interim management market is buoyant, growing and should underpin a good year for the sector in 2019.

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