Economic struggles to help contractors?

During times of economic uncertainty firms will often look for alternatives to hiring a new permanent member of staff, increasing the opportunities available for contractors.

This could mean that there is a silver lining, for contractors at least, to the news that the UK economy contracted by 0.2 per cent during the final quarter of 2011. While the data is subject to review, it is official and has prompted a certain level of concern about the possibility of a double dip recession.

Meanwhile, the year-on-year figures, which are also subject to revision, showed a minimum GDP rise of 0.8 per cent. The concern is the first quarter of 2012 will not achieve positive growth, putting the country officially back into recession.

Chancellor George Osborne observed that international problems are largely responsible for Britain's troubles: “Britain has substantial economic problems, debt built up over the past 10 years, and we are dealing with those, but the truth is that dealing with those problems is made more difficult by the situation in the eurozone.”

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee is expected to work hard to find a way of boosting the economy, most likely by introducing further quantitative easing in the months ahead.