The UK’s job market has been significantly rocked by COVID-19 which catalysed a decline in permanent employment. The UK Government has tried to protect jobs by launching its furlough scheme in March, which will continue to be a saviour for many until its extended deadline of March 2021.

While the furlough extension has delayed the wave of redundancies expected at the end of the job retention scheme, there is now a more disruptive event looming for the UK job market. Brexit is fast approaching and we’re now less than 50 days away until the UK officially leaves the EU on 1st January 2021. This monumental event is expected to trigger further disruption and uncertainty for the UK’s economy with new legislative changes expected for employment, such as the new points-based immigration system. However, it also creates new opportunities for flexible workers both in and outside the EU.

Working 9-5 won’t be a way to make a living

COVID-19 has accelerated the shift to flexible working with many workers joining the Quantum Workforce, where work is reduced to its smallest and most incremental parts, often across multiple employers. Today, one in seven workers in the UK are in flexible employment, up 25% in two decades. Similarly across the pond, a third of US workers are now self-employed ‘solopreneurs’.

This rise in Quantum Employment is underway across a range of industries and has even filtered into more traditional ‘white-collar jobs’ such as marketing, accountancy and law.

It’s expected Brexit will trigger drastic changes for recruitment firms due to the end of free movement, which will cause severe staffing shortages for sectors such as agriculture, healthcare and manufacturing who all especially rely on temporary workers. This will be further exacerbated by the end of the Job Retention Scheme inducing a shortage of full-time roles.

Many workers will face uncertainty but many will join the Quantum Workforce to reduce their dependence on one employer, sharing their skills across a range of employers and industries to strengthen their income. Job seekers want the ability to switch between different projects with ease, in the same way they order food and car-rides. Even in full-time roles, flexible working is already a new requirement for the current tranche of job-seekers, providing the criteria for which roles they decide to choose. […]

Read more in The Global Recruiter