Self-employment is growing at more than twice the rate of direct employment, according to a new report from FAS and the ESRI. It forecasts that by 2003, one in six workers will be self-employed, compared with one in eight at present.
In the 14 years ending April 1997, the number of self-employed rose by 60 per cent, while those in direct employment rose by 27 per cent. The dramatic increase in self-employment has been disguised by the long-term decline in farming as an occupation. The report also shows other dramatic changes in the labour force. For instance, there are now nearly two gardai for each agricultural labourer in the workforce.
However, agricultural labourers continue to endure the longest working week, averaging almost 45 hours. Gardai work 32 hours on average and teachers continue to enjoy the shortest working week, at just under 30 hours.
The increase in the number of self-employed is the most striking feature of the report. The latest FAS/ESRI forecast, "Occupational Changes in the Irish Economy", has extracted the non-agricultural self-employed from the total for the first time.
It shows that the number of non-agricultural self-employed people in 1997 rose from 100,900 in 1983 to 159,400. Over the same period, the number of farmers fell from 137,200 to 108,300. The number of direct employees rose from 860,000 to 1,082,300 between 1983 and 1997.
Farmers still comprise more than 41 per cent of the self-employed. The next largest group is "proprietors in services", who comprise 15 per cent. These include shopkeepers, publicans, restaurateurs, hoteliers and filling-station owners. The other two large groupings are self-employed professionals and skilled workers, who each comprise 11 per cent of the total.
Overall, self-employed people comprised 12.8 per cent of the working population, outside agriculture, in 1997. This compares with 10.5 per cent in 1983. The figure is expected to rise to 15 per cent within five years. The growth in self-employment has been fairly constant, regardless of macro-economic trends.
The figures show that self-employment began to rise rapidly during the recession of 1983 to 1990. It continued through the early stages of the economic reco very but fell off, relative to the increase in overall employment which had taken place since 1993.
While men still comprise more than 90 per cent of self-employed workers, growth in the sector has been accounted for mainly by women. They comprised 5.2 per cent of self-employed workers in 1983, but 6.5 per cent in 1997.
The occupations expected to show the fastest rate of self-employment growth in the future are the professions, associated professionals (such as technicians, systems analysts and industrial designers), skilled maintenance and clerical occupations.
Unlike the general labour market, where women are expected to account for most of the net growth over the next decade, growth in the self-employed sector is expected to be shared fairly evenly between the sexes.
However, the continuing decline in the number of farms will mean the overall proportion of self-employed males will fall, visa-vis women. Significantly, while the number of agricultural labourers fell from 10,700 in 1983 to 7,400 in 1997, the number of other agricultural employees rose from 11,300 to 18,100. This suggests that direct employment for more skilled agricultural workers is increasing.