MCI response to PQ on Annual Projected Growth of Freelancers in ICT and Media (2022 to 2025)

Parliament Sitting on 9 May 2022

QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

49. Mr Patrick Tay Teck Guan: To ask the Minister for Communications and Information from 2022 to 2025, what is the annual projected growth of freelancers in the (i) information and communications technology (ICT) and (ii) media industries.

Answer:

1. Freelancers, or Own Account Workers (OAWs)¹, form a relatively small part of our workforce. The proportion of OAWs in our resident workforce has remained stable at between 8% and 10% over the past five years. In the Information and Communications (I&C) sector, which includes both ICT and media industries, resident OAWs have more than doubled from 4,000 in 2016 to 8,800 in 2021, or 7.3% of all employed residents in the sector.

2. Technology has enabled greater flexibilities for working. With changing aspirations of our workforce and business models of media companies, freelancing may be increasingly attractive as a preferred arrangement. There is no established way to project the growth, but we will continue to monitor the trends. We will also continue to support freelancers in maintaining their skills relevance.

   ¹ Refers to self-employed persons (SEPs) who operate their own business without hiring any employees.