The public sector is increasingly relying on the skills of engineering contractors over permanent employees, according to giant group.

Giant group’s analysis of its contractor database found that the percentage of contractors operating in the public sector has dramatically increased over the past 12 months.

“The data from our analysis highlights that the public sector simply cannot cope with demand and is having to rely on the skills of specialist contractors to get engineering projects and maintenance programmes over the line,” Matthew Brown, managing director of giant group, said. “The majority of these professionals are operating in transportation and construction and we can expect demand to remain strong in the face of continued cuts.”

The study also showed that the percentage of engineering professionals that would accept a permanent position has decreased once again, which suggests that contractors are gaining from working in this way.

“Contractors profit from working on a wider range of projects which helps to bolster their already extensive skillsets and have the potential to earn more money than they would in a permanent position,” Brown said. “As a result of this and the overall growth of the gig economy, we are likely to see this figure fall yet again when we revisit the data later in the year.”