Human Capital

Human capital is the term used to describe people’s abilities, knowledge, and skills. A few aspects can indicate the level of general human capital, e.g. education, work experience and skills. Work or profession-related knowledge is the foundation for specific human capital. Overall, the results from this project find that the contracting sector consists of a highly educated and professional workforce that has a very high level of human capital. The data from contractors in Ireland reveals that (95%) of the participants attained third level qualifications (level 6 – 10 in the National Framework of Qualifications).

According to the “Educational Attainment Thematic Report 2021” from the CSO, 53% of people aged 25-64 years old have a third level qualification in Ireland. The education level of the professional contracting sector is, therefore, higher than the average levels in Ireland. From work occupation analysis, 95% of contractors were high-skilled. Specifically, (21%) were managers, directors and senior officials (SOC1); 66% were professionals (SOC2); and (6%) were associate professionals and technicians (SOC3).

The average working experience (including both full-time self-employment and full-time employee) was 26 years, ranging from under 1 year (several months) to 68 years. The average working experience in full-time self-employment was 8 years.

The major industries that the contractors work in are mostly professional service and knowledge intensive industries including pharma (21%), medical device (4%), medical locum (4%), life science (6%), finance (11%), ICT (12%), engineering and technical activities (7%). A small portion of respondents work in the construction (5%) and manufacturing (4%) sectors.

In terms of finding new work, 56% of respondent’s report that they could find another contract easily, 82% report that their experience is in demand in the labour market.