Want to earn more money? Become a contractor in these top industries

With the latest labour market statistics from the ONS revealing that average weekly earnings for UK workers have increased by 3.4%, further data released today by CV-Library has found that contractor wages, in particular, are drastically outpacing average pay across the UK.

The independent job board analysed average salary data from hundreds of thousands of contractor jobs posted on its site and compared these figures with average pay across each sector.

In light of this, the findings reveal that the following industries ranked highest for contractor pay:

1. Engineering – 75.5% above average
2. Social Care – 72.2% above average
3. Manufacturing – 66.9% above average
4. Design – up 66.8% above average
5. Construction – 46% above average
6. Financial Services – 45.1% above average
7. Legal – 44.8% above average
8. Accounting – 37.5% above average
9. HR – 21% above average
10. Marketing – 16.4% above than average
11. IT – 15.8% above average
12. Customer Service – 9% above average
13. Recruitment – 5.9% above average
14. Administration – 4.7% above average
15. Education – 3.3% above average

Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library comments: “It’s no secret that contractors command far higher salaries than the average UK worker and our data shows that professionals in key industries could be earning up to 75.5% more than average. That being said, contracting isn’t for everyone, especially if you’re looking for stability and key workplace perks from your employer.”

In addition to the above, this month the job board recorded 5,467,400 contractors and temp workers looking for work on its site, compared to 5,105,000 year before. This 7.1% growth in contractors looking for work outpaced the growth of permanent professionals, which stood at 6.3%.

Biggins continues: “Inevitably, given the nature of contracting and temp work, there’s going to be a higher number of these individuals looking for work more frequently. But that being said, this could also suggest a move toward more people looking for contract work over permanent employment. High pay and flexibility can certainly be appealing factors, but at the end of the day, it’s up to your own personal preferences and what feels right for you.”