Close to 12% of the respondents in this year`s survey are contracted employees or freelance workers, compared to nearly 87% that are permanently employed.
In terms of the nature of the contract, the majority of the sample is contracted directly by the client (48%), while 37% are contracted through an agency or labour broker.
Nearly 50% of the contractors who responded to the survey stated they work either a standard 8 hours a day, or possibly less, with around 6% working only 5 to 6 hours per day. At the opposite end of the spectrum, nearly 12% worked between 11 and 12 hours per day, with the remaining 32% working 9 to 10 hours a day on average.
Out of contract
While one of the big fears a permanent employee would have is that of retrenchment, it seems contractors are not immune to this fate. Some 14% of the contractor respondents suffered retrenchment during the course of the past 24 months, although the vast majority of these were out of work for a short period of time.
Nearly 68% of respondents who had been retrenched were only out of work for three months or less, while 16% were unable to find business for up to six months. A further 14% struggled to find employment for anywhere between six and 18 months, while only one contractor had no work for two years.
High income, high risk
[CHART]By far the majority of contractors (50.8%) are employed at an hourly rate, while 30% are paid on a monthly basis. Only 2.7% are paid their fees daily, with another 5.7% being paid on a project-by-project basis. The remainder failed to indicate their rates.
The range of hourly rates is huge - from R50 reported by a Delphi programmer, up to R600 by a contractor who indicated Microsoft as his/her primary platform. The average rates reported in the survey are moderate, which is in line with what contracting agencies are reporting - that the fees have gone down.
However, a comparison of total monthly income earned by permanent employees and contractors shows that contractors win hands down, at both the management and staff levels.
[CHART]"A higher rate of remuneration for the contractors in this group, when compared to the permanent employees in the operational and staff levels, is not unexpected," says Morag May, director of remuneration consultancy 21st Century Business and Pay Solutions. "This is in line with norms across all industries, where contracting staff earn a premium based on the risk nature of their job and the lack of benefits and job security.
"this is inline with norms across all industries, where contracted staff earn a premium based on the risk nature of their job and the lack of benefits and job security. However, the trend is not rue at executive level in this sample, where it is unlikely that an organisation would use a very senior executive in a contracting role," says May.
Few benefits
Over 57% of the contractors indicated they do not receive any form of paid sick or annual leave, although 32% said they are given paid leave. Other bonuses that contractors receive - although only a tiny percentage of respondents specified any at all - included items like travel or car allowances, cellphones, office space, laptops or PCs, medical aid, or commission.
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