Steve Harrhy, Associate Director
"2023 has been an extremely challenging period for companies operating in the engineering and manufacturing sectors. The skills gap is widening, and the dearth of permanent candidates has opened the door for skilled engineering contractors and temporary staff. The demand to help bridge the skills gap with short-term flexible staff has increased dramatically in 2023."
With over 1 million workers returning to the EU post-Brexit and 12% of the workforce in UK manufacturing nearing or already at retirement age by 2027, the skills gap in the UK has continued to widen, with the number of unfilled vacancies in the UK not dropping below 900,000 at any point in 2023. With the challenges to recruit permanent engineering and manufacturing staff, this has created a massive opportunity for the utilisation of contractors and temporary staff to help bridge the skills gap.
One of our core principles is providing added value services to our customers, and we regularly provide data to support their engagement of contractors and temporary staff. To help us understand what drives the decision of skilled contractors and temporary staff, we surveyed a cross-section of the 60,000 contractors in our database for their opinions. The results have certainly made interesting reading. We hope you find it useful.
82% of those surveyed were in a contract
52% of those in a contract were looking for a new assignment
When asked why they were looking for a new assignment, the contractors cited the following reasons
| 2023 |
Contract coming to an end | 31% |
Location of current contract | 5% |
Lack of interest in the type of work the contract requires | 16% |
Rate is too low | 16% |
Lack of hours available | 5% |
Currently out of contract | 20% |
Other | 10% |
When asked about what would be the most important element in deciding whether a new contract is right?
| 2023 |
Location | 28% |
Length of Contract | 18% |
Number of hours available | 9% |
The type of work | 21% |
Working arrangement (Hybrid working) | 24% |
How would you go about looking for a new contract assignment?
| 2023 |
Google / Bing / Other Search Engines | 15% |
Apply direct on job boards | 24% |
Upload CV to job boards and wait to be contacted by a recruiter | 32% |
Wait to be contacted by a recruiter | 13% |
Search for a specialist recruiter | 21% |
Other | 13% |
What do you few as the main benefit of being a contractor?
| 2023 |
Increased earnings | 27% |
Flexibility & Autonomy | 33% |
Working on a range of projects | 24% |
Control over the type of project you engage with | 10% |
Skill development & growth | 3% |
Tax benefits and deductions | 3% |
What do you view as the main challenge of being a contractor?
Lack of security | 27% |
No paid holidays | 18% |
Career development is your responsibility | 6% |
Running your own business | 7% |
IR35 and the challenges associated with it | 25% |
Difficulty in finding new contracts | 17% |
How satisfied are you with the contract rate you received in 2023?
Very Satisfied | 27% |
Somewhat satisfied | 61% |
Somewhat dissatisfied | 7% |
Very dissatisfied | 5% |
How long was your last / current contract?
| 2023 |
0-3 Months | 25% |
4-6 Months | 15% |
7-9 Months | 3% |
10-11 Months | 3% |
12+ Months | 54% |
How many contracts have you had in the last 12 months?
| 2023 |
1 | 60% |
2 | 25% |
3 | 13% |
4 | 2% |
What does this mean for companies looking to engage with contractors and temporary engineers to help bridge the skill gap in the future
1) Length of contract
While contractors are aware of the stability risks associated with being a flexible worker and running their own business, the length of the contract is one of the biggest attractions to contractors when deciding on which assignment to engage with. Whether using contractors for a specific project or as cover until you find a permanent member of staff, it’s key that being attractive in a competitive market requires a good length contract. 60% of the assignments that contractors surveyed have undertaken in the last 12 months have been over 6 months long.
2) Reach the passive contractors
In 2023, the contractor market has certainly become more reactive, with nearly half of those preferring to either post their CV on a job board or wait to be approached by a recruiter rather than using the traditional route of applying to adverts.
3) Flexibility, Autonomy & Diversity of projects
Nearly 60% of the contractors surveyed choose to be flexible workers so they can have autonomy and flexibility within these organisations. They enjoy working on a diverse range of projects as this gives them the challenge of learning new systems and processes quickly. This enables them to have a quick impact on a business and provide positive outcomes and solutions to the problems that their clients have.
Get in touch
If you are interested in the findings of this survey and want to discuss the impact these trends will have on your business, contact Steve Harrhy, Associate Director of ATA Recruitment on 07827295376 or steve.harrhy@ata-recruitment.co.uk, or complete the form below. We will also be releasing our annual Contractor Rates Survey in the next month, which will convey data gathered from all the contract placements we have made throughout 2023.
This extensive report, together with the feedback from contractors, shows that ATA Recruitment holds the knowledge and expertise to ensure you're ready to face the continuing concern of bridging the skills gap within the engineering and manufacturing marketplace.
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