73%
Of contractors expect their use of AI to increase
continued
Contractor Profile
Contractors Are Happy
Contractors are happy! 83% reported being satisfied with their work and 76% are satisfied with their life in general! Contractors were asked a number of questions about their satisfaction levels around 7 key elements of their working life, including the work itself, rate of pay, location of the job, flexibility of the hours, remote working options, work-life balance, and their life in general. Despite the high satisfaction levels, there’s been a decrease in all areas compared to the 2023 survey findings. Satisfaction levels with the rate of pay have experienced the most significant drop, from 79% expressing satisfaction in 2023 to 66% satisfied in 2024.
Factors Influencing Contract Work
Contractors shared their views on how various local and global socioeconomic factors affect their contract work; they were asked to indicate whether these factors’ impacts were positive, negative, or neutral. Interestingly healthy competition among contractors and freelancers is seen as beneficial, with 40% of respondents viewing increased competition as having a positive impact, a significant rise from (20%) in 2023.
The 2024 results show that 68% of participants believe that collaborating with other contractors or freelancers positively impacts their work, an increase from 49% in the previous year.
85% of those surveyed also reported that government recognition of contractors/freelancers as an important part of the workforce would have a positive effect on contract work. 58% said government pressuring companies to transfer freelancers/contractors to employee status would negatively affect contract work.
How Are Contractors Treated
Contractors were asked their opinions on how they feel the self-employed are treated by Government, client companies and employees on site compared to employees. 43% of contractors believe that the self-employed are treated worse than employees by the Revenue, 55% feel they are treated worse by Government. However, these are improvements on last year where 64% felt they were treated worse than employees by government.
A total of 64% of contractors feel the self-employed are treated the same or better than employees by client companies and 68% of contractors feel the self-employed are treated the same or better by employees on site. However, there is a rise in the percentage who think they are being treated worse compared to last year. In general, roughly a third of freelancers feel they are treated worse than employees by client organisations and employees, while roughly 10% think they are treated better, the balance feeling there is no difference.
The Benefits For Client Companies
When asked about the benefits contractors bring to client companies who engage them, 76% of participants report agility as the number one benefit, 75% said engaging contractors benefits the client when dealing with headcount issues, 72% see bringing new skills as their contribution and 62% report contractors benefit clients as they ensure the projects get finished faster. It’s not hard to see why client companies are engaging with contractors more and more, the benefits they bring are highly valuable and enable companies to meet the ever-changing challenges they face.
AI At Work
Respondents were asked a variety of questions about the impact of AI on their work today and their expectations about the impact of AI in the future. Professional contractors do not appear to be threatened by AI developments and integration, only 18% of respondents felt that AI would displace or reduce the amount of work they get. 27% agreed that AI would make their work easier. 73% expected that the usage of AI by contractors would increase and 37% felt that AI would have a positive impact on work performance. Over three times more contractors view AI as positive rather than a negative force on their work.
76%
State 'greater agility' as the biggest benefit they bring to clients
83%
Of contractors are satisfied with their work
Looking To The Future
When asked about the performance of the Irish economy in 2024, 47% of contractors believed it would increase compared to 2023, 34% believed that it would stay the same and 19% believed it would decrease. When specifically asked about the performance of the contracting sector in Ireland over the next 3 – 5 years, 61% of the contractors believed the contracting sector would increase, 28% believed it would stay the same and 11% thought that it would decrease. Contractors are positive in their outlook for both the Irish economy and the contracting sector.
The Confidence Index
Throughout this report you will see references made to the ‘Confidence Index.’ The confidence the participants have in several areas was expressed through the way they answered a number of key questions almost identical in nature but presented in different ways. The average weighting of these answers is then used to calculate the confidence index. A confidence index of zero would indicate that there was a totally neutral feeling by the respondents. A positive figure represents a positive outlook, with the scale maxing at 100, while a negative score indicates the feeling of unfavourable negative feelings towards the economic or business future.
Contractors remain positive about both the Irish economy and about the contracting sector. Both the confidence index scores remain strong. The confidence index score for the Irish economy has increased this year from +10 in 2023 to +16 in 2024. While the confidence index score for the contracting sector has reduced slightly this year at +30 down from +31 in 2023.
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| The Irish Economy | +16 | +10 | +38 | +7 |
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| The Contracting Sector | +30 | +31 | +37 | +30 |