VCS employment figures fall during second quarter

The voluntary sector’s paid workforce experienced a slight fall in the second quarter of this year, with the latest analysis of the Labour Force Survey showing that the number of paid employees in the sector decreased by approximately 4,000 over March to June 2012, representing a decrease of just 0.6% on the previous quarter and takes the number of paid employees to a total of 775,000 during the mid-point of 2012.

The findings also provide further evidence of a long-term increase in non-standard forms of work in the sector. In the latest available figures, which cover the second quarter of 2012, the number of voluntary sector workers employed on a temporary basis increased by 18% over the last 12 months to 98,000 temporary workers, and the proportion of employees working part-time because they could not find full-time employment increased by 21%. Now nearly one-fifth (18%) of the 289,000 part-time workers in the voluntary sector are doing so because they could not find a full-time job.

These latest findings were produced by Skills – Third Sector in partnership with the Third Sector Research Centre and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. The findings come as part of an ongoing study being conducted by these three organisations into overall voluntary sector workforce trends.