The number of UK workers on zero-hours contracts has more than tripled since 2012, accounting for more than a quarter of overall employment growth, according to data from Adzuna.

With the employment rate currently at a record high of 75.7% according to the ONS.

Using the most recent employment data from the Office of National Statistics, Adzuna’s data compares recent growth in the number of people in work overall to the increasing number of zero-hours contracts, to determine how much these contracts have contributed to the growth.

According to the data, zero-hours contracts have grown by 258% since 2012, with 901,000 workers currently employed on this contract type, up from 252,000 in 2012. Zero-hours workers currently represent 2.8% of the UK workforce.

Meanwhile, the number of workers in employment overall has risen by 2.42 million over the same period, from 29.73 million in 2012 to 32.15 million in 2017.  This means that zero hours contracts represent more than a quarter (26.8%) of overall employment growth over the past five years.

“Therefore recent reports praising record high employment levels could be deemed to be misleading in regards to the stability of the UK job market,” Adzuna stated.

Adzuna’s data compares to the ONS’ own data on zero-hours contracts, taken from a November 2017, which found that there were 1.8 million zero-hour contracts, representing 6% of all employment contracts.

Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, commented, “MPs are quick to sing the praises of an improving jobs market, but the headline figures are drowning out the detail. A big chunk of the employment boost is down to a boom in zero-hours contracts and ‘gig’ jobs, which do not always offer the same employment rights and stability of fixed contracts. As a result, overall figures look rosier than reality. Other workers have been forced into self-employment not out of choice but to escape the breadline, and many use the gig economy to top-up their pay packets.”

Adzuna reported that currently there are 225,000 ‘gig economy’ jobs currently being advertised on its website. As at 1 September 2018, there were 143,294 temporary contract vacancies, 6,838 freelance roles, and 74,983 part-time positions available on the UK jobs market. 

According to Azuna, the top five gig economy websites and apps on its site are currently Uber, PeoplePerHour, Deliveroo, Fiverr and Upwork.