Freelance workers being systematically excluded from the UK's official data sources could distort the true picture of how many working-age Britons are not contributing to the economy.
Such is the implication from the Council for Industry and Higher Education, which yesterday called the government to lend more support to the creative industry and its freelancers.
In its in-depth analysis of the creative, digital and IT sectors, the council said the freelance labour pool is set to grow, as more people 'go it alone' on the back of being made redundant.
However the actual size of this independent labour force is largely unchecked, because official data sources, to a greater or lesser extent, still "systematically exclude" freelancers.
This omission affects a "discrete and increasing" labour pool that is creating, as well as distributing, the "creative content upon which our digital economy is becoming increasingly reliant."
"There needs to be particular recognition of the Creative Industries’ increasing reliance on freelancers in order to succeed", the council added in The Fuse - Igniting High Growth for Creative Industries.
But for digital and other creative companies, being
successful in the current climate will come at a price, as the council says
using freelancers to supplement the workforce means more strain on the
employer's "already limited" funds.
Sep 9, 2010
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