Permanent and temporary employment

Published 28 November 2023

Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• 95% of all working age people (16 to 64 year olds) employed in 2022 were in permanent employment, and 5% were in temporary employment
• 95% of white employees were in permanent employment – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 12% of black employees were in temporary employment – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• in every ethnic group, a higher percentage of women than men were in temporary employment – the biggest difference was in the Asian ‘other’ and ‘other’ ethnic groups

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

The data shows the number and percentage of working age people (16 to 64 year olds) in employment who were in permanent and temporary work in their main job. The data covers employees in England, Wales and Scotland.

A person of working age is employed if they:

• are in paid work, as an employee or self-employed
• have a job that they are temporarily away from, for example on holiday
• are on a government-supported training or employment programme
• are doing unpaid family work, for example working in a family business

An employee is in temporary employment if they have a fixed-period contract, or are doing one of the following:

• agency temping
• casual work
• seasonal work
• other temporary work

In the Annual Population Survey, respondents decide if they are in permanent or temporary employment.

Percentages are rounded to whole numbers. Population numbers are rounded to the nearest 100 people, but employment rates have been calculated using unrounded data.

Not included in the data

The data does not include estimates based on fewer than:

• 30 survey respondents for data which includes all ethnic groups together
• 100 survey respondents for data by ethnicity

This is to protect people’s confidentiality and because the numbers involved are too small to make reliable generalisations.

The ethnic groups used in this data

The data uses the ethnic categories from the 2011 Census.

Data is aggregated for the black, mixed and ‘other’ ethnic groups, which means estimates are shown for these groups as a whole.

Data is shown separately for the white British and white ‘other’ ethnic groups. Separate figures are also shown for 3 different Asian ethnic groups (Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi combined, and Asian ‘other’).

People whose ethnicity is not known are included in the figures for ‘All’.

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document for this data.

The Annual Population Survey updated its ethnicity questions in 2011. Estimates from before and after 2011 may not be consistent, and data for individual ethnic groups in 2011 is not available.

Data for 2004 and 2005 cannot be compared with later years. This is because the permanent or temporary employment status was not known for a large percentage of employees.

There are separate employment figures in the ethnicity pay gap data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in November 2023. The rates by ethnicity may be different to those shown on this page, because:

• the ONS data excludes extreme values that differ from most other data points in a dataset (‘outliers’)
• the datasets use different weighting rules

The figures on this page are based on survey data. Find out more about:

• interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed
• how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the whole group being studied

In the data file

See Download the data for:

• estimates by region, and by region and sex for all ethnic groups from 2004 onwards
• confidence intervals for each ethnic group – see how we use confidence intervals to demonstrate the reliability of survey estimates
• sample sizes
• estimates rounded to 1 decimal place
• estimates for employees whose employment status was not known

3. By ethnicity

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2022
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of 16 to 64 year old employees who were in permanent and temporary employment, by ethnicity

	Permanent		Temporary
Ethnicity	Permanent %	Permanent Number of people employed	Temporary %	Temporary Number of people employed
All	95	25,180,700	5	1,424,900
Asian	92	1,913,900	8	170,300
Indian	93	832,900	7	64,800
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	90	528,400	10	58,700
Asian other	92	552,600	8	46,800
Black	88	850,300	12	113,600
Mixed	91	398,500	9	37,800
White	95	21,535,800	5	1,048,000
White British	95	19,503,000	5	924,500
White other	94	2,032,700	6	123,500
Other	89	468,800	10	54,200

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Permanent and temporary employment By ethnicity Summary

The data shows that:

• 95% of all working age people (16 to 64 year olds) who were employed in 2022 were in permanent employment, and 5% were in temporary employment
• 95% of white employees were in permanent employment – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 88% of black employees were in permanent employment – the lowest percentage
• 12% of black employees were in temporary employment – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
• 5% of white employees were in temporary employment – the lowest percentage

4. By ethnicity over time (permanent employment only)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2006 to 2022
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage of employees in permanent work, by ethnicity over time

	All		Asian		Indian		Pakistani, Bangladeshi		Asian other		Black		Mixed		White		White British		White other		Other		Unknown
Ethnicity	All %	All Number of people employed	Asian %	Asian Number of people employed	Indian %	Indian Number of people employed	Pakistani, Bangladeshi %	Pakistani, Bangladeshi Number of people employed	Asian other %	Asian other Number of people employed	Black %	Black Number of people employed	Mixed %	Mixed Number of people employed	White %	White Number of people employed	White British %	White British Number of people employed	White other %	White other Number of people employed	Other %	Other Number of people employed	Unknown %	Unknown Number of people employed
2004	94	22,217,100	91	843,100	92	426,200	91	224,800	92	192,000	92	408,300	91	138,000	94	20,628,300	95	19,663,400	90	964,900	87	184,500
2005	95	22,522,100	91	888,500	91	444,800	92	236,100	89	207,700	90	439,800	93	143,700	95	20,799,800	95	19,727,800	91	1,072,000	89	237,900
2006	94	22,655,500	91	927,600	90	460,100	92	250,900	91	216,600	92	484,500	93	151,400	95	20,816,900	95	19,547,300	91	1,269,700	89	263,000
2007	94	22,818,900	92	1,000,600	93	492,900	91	255,300	92	252,400	92	510,100	90	154,500	95	20,849,800	95	19,506,800	92	1,343,000	88	292,600
2008	95	23,048,800	92	1,084,200	93	517,300	91	280,400	91	286,500	92	515,100	91	156,300	95	20,970,600	95	19,544,700	92	1,425,900	89	310,300
2009	94	22,527,200	92	1,119,500	92	542,400	93	302,700	89	274,400	94	522,100	90	166,800	95	20,422,000	95	19,009,300	92	1,412,700	88	282,600
2010	94	22,336,800	91	1,148,800	91	556,900	90	305,100	90	286,800	91	538,600	91	173,900	94	20,150,000	95	18,726,400	92	1,423,600	93	305,300
2011	94	22,328,400
2012	94	22,282,500	91	1,264,000	92	583,000	89	340,300	91	340,700	90	551,500	89	190,800	94	19,975,800	94	18,667,800	91	1,308,100	90	287,400
2013	94	22,510,100	91	1,287,000	91	577,400	92	380,800	91	328,800	91	570,400	87	206,700	94	20,135,000	94	18,786,600	91	1,348,400	92	299,700
2014	94	22,901,600	92	1,402,400	92	637,300	91	416,400	91	348,700	89	592,100	90	218,800	94	20,353,400	94	18,852,500	92	1,501,000	91	296,500	96	38,400
2015	94	23,488,700	92	1,429,200	93	641,300	91	416,600	92	371,400	89	672,900	90	234,600	94	20,794,800	95	19,148,100	91	1,646,700	91	330,000
2016	94	23,624,500	93	1,513,800	94	662,400	92	454,400	92	397,000	90	704,300	91	251,000	94	20,795,300	95	19,009,100	94	2,032,700	90	342,500
2017	94	24,081,400	92	1,542,400	93	677,400	92	455,700	92	409,300	88	653,900	91	282,400	95	21,225,500	95	19,326,000	91	1,786,200	91	361,600
2018	95	24,335,700	93	1,628,000	94	702,200	93	522,300	91	403,500	89	740,400	92	295,500	95	21,292,600	95	19,393,800	92	1,899,600	91	361,400
2019	95	24,605,300	94	1,653,800	95	728,000	93	506,700	93	419,100	91	801,500	92	290,100	95	21,478,100	95	19,491,200	92	1,898,800	91	372,200
2020	95	24,778,300	93	1,671,300	94	770,900	93	458,400	93	442,100	91	780,800	91	349,900	95	21,580,600	95	19,598,200	93	1,986,800	92	377,000
2021	94	24,742,800	93	1,741,200	92	776,000	91	490,100	95	475,200	89	774,800	91	356,500	95	21,471,200	95	19,500,200	94	1,982,400	91	381,600
2022	95	25,180,700	92	1,913,900	93	832,900	90	528,400	92	552,600	88	850,300	91	398,500	95	21,535,800	95	19,503,000	94	1,971,100	89	468,800

Data not collected Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Permanent and temporary employment By ethnicity over time (permanent employment only) Summary

The data shows that, between 2006 and 2022:

• the percentage of all employees in permanent employment was consistently between 94% and 95%
• in every ethnic group except for the black, mixed, and combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups, the percentage of employees in permanent employment was higher in 2022 than in 2006
• the percentage of employees from the white ‘other’ and Indian ethnic groups in permanent employment went up by 3 percentage points, (91% to 94% and 90% to 93% respectively)– the biggest increase out of all ethnic groups
• the percentage of black employees in permanent employment went down from 92% to 88% – the biggest decrease out of all ethnic groups *the percentage of employees in permanent employment from mixed and Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic groups went down by 2 percentage points between 2006 and 2022

5. By ethnicity over time (temporary employment only)

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2006 to 2022
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage of 16 to 64 year old employees who were in temporary employment, by ethnicity over time

	All		Asian		Indian		Pakistani, Bangladeshi		Asian other		Black		Mixed		White		White British		White other		Other		Unknown
Ethnicity	All %	All Number of people employed	Asian %	Asian Number of people employed	Indian %	Indian Number of people employed	Pakistani, Bangladeshi %	Pakistani, Bangladeshi Number of people employed	Asian other %	Asian other Number of people employed	Black %	Black Number of people employed	Mixed %	Mixed Number of people employed	White %	White Number of people employed	White British %	White British Number of people employed	White other %	White other Number of people employed	Other %	Other Number of people employed	Unknown %	Unknown Number of people employed
2004	6	1,368,900	9	78,100	8	37,600	9	23,100	8	17,400	9	37,800	9	13,400	6	1,211,200	5	1,105,000	10	106,200	13	27,800
2005	6	1,302,500	9	90,800	9	43,300	8	21,300	11	26,200	10	46,800	7	10,400	5	1,124,000	5	1,016,100	9	107,900	11	29,100
2006	6	1,346,800	9	93,100	10	49,000	9	23,300	9	20,800	8	44,800	7	11,400	5	1,163,500	5	1,035,100	9	128,400	11	33,400
2007	6	1,359,000	8	84,600	7	37,400	9	24,300	8	22,900	8	46,000	10	16,400	5	1,173,300	5	1,050,000	8	123,200	11	37,500
2008	5	1,268,300	8	94,800	7	39,200	9	27,900	9	27,800	8	43,900	9	15,300	5	1,076,900	5	959,300	8	117,600	11	36,600
2009	6	1,313,500	8	102,300	8	45,600	7	23,700	11	32,900	6	35,900	10	18,400	5	1,119,700	5	999,200	8	120,500	11	36,100
2010	6	1,401,600	9	116,900	9	53,700	10	32,500	10	30,700	9	51,100	9	17,100	6	1,190,500	5	1,065,500	8	125,000	7	24,300
2011	6	1,425,100
2012	6	1,484,200	9	126,200	8	53,100	10	39,500	9	33,600	10	57,900	11	23,400	6	1,245,700	6	1,122,000	9	123,700	10	30,300
2013	6	1,487,300	9	119,400	9	56,400	8	32,500	8	30,400	9	54,000	13	29,800	6	1,255,800	6	1,122,100	9	133,600	8	27,000
2014	6	1,514,700	8	120,300	7	51,000	8	36,300	9	33,000	10	68,900	10	23,600	6	1,271,400	6	1,134,300	8	137,200	9	29,200	3	1,400
2015	6	1,496,400	8	121,800	7	47,500	9	41,100	8	33,200	11	83,900	10	26,700	6	1,230,800	5	1,074,200	9	156,600	9	32,100
2016	6	1,487,400	7	116,100	6	43,800	8	37,900	8	34,300	10	80,500	9	25,400	6	1,225,600	5	1,058,200	6	123,500	10	37,600
2017	6	1,472,100	8	125,400	7	50,800	8	39,900	8	34,700	12	88,900	10	29,500	5	1,192,700	5	1,033,400	9	167,400	9	34,800
2018	5	1,399,700	7	121,100	6	42,700	8	42,200	8	36,200	11	90,600	8	26,400	5	1,126,900	5	969,500	8	159,300	8	33,100
2019	5	1,321,400	6	109,400	5	39,100	7	38,800	7	31,600	9	76,900	8	25,000	5	1,073,700	5	934,700	8	157,400	9	35,300
2020	5	1,367,400	7	118,800	6	52,700	7	32,900	7	33,200	9	77,600	9	33,700	5	1,105,900	5	971,600	7	138,900	7	30,500
2021	6	1,438,900	7	139,300	8	63,200	9	49,200	5	27,000	11	96,600	9	35,300	5	1,132,300	5	1,003,700	6	134,300	8	34,100
2022	5	1,424,900	8	170,300	7	64,800	10	58,700	8	46,800	12	113,600	9	37,800	5	1,048,000	5	924,500	6	128,500	10	54,200

Data not collected Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Permanent and temporary employment By ethnicity over time (temporary employment only) Summary

The data shows that, between 2006 and 2022:

• the percentage of employees in temporary employment was consistently between 5% and 6% in every year
• the percentage of people in the white ‘other’ and Indian ethnic groups who were in temporary employment went down from 9% to 6% and 10% to 7% respectively
• the percentage of black employees in temporary employment went up from 8% to 12% – the biggest increase out of all ethnic groups

6. By ethnicity and gender

• Location: England, Wales and Scotland
• Time period: 2022
• Source: Annual Population Survey

Percentage and number of 16 to 64 year old employees who were in temporary and permanent employment, by ethnicity and gender

	Men				Women
Ethnicity	Men % Permanent employees	Men Number Permanent employees	Men % Temporary employees	Men Number Temporary employees	Women % Permanent employees	Women Number Permanent employees	Women % Temporary employees	Women Number Temporary employees
All	95	12,738,700	5	637,900	94	12,442,000	6	787,100
Asian	92	1,031,900	7	83,300	91	882,000	9	87,000
Indian	93	457,200	7	33,400	92	375,700	8	31,400
Pakistani, Bangladeshi	90	310,900	10	32,800	89	217,500	11	25,900
Asian other	94	263,800	6	17,100	90	288,800	9	29,700
Black	88	352,000	11	44,500	88	498,300	12	69,100
Mixed	91	177,800	8	15,300	90	220,700	9	22,600
White	96	10,911,100	4	469,400	95	10,624,600	5	578,600
White British	96	9,973,300	4	419,000	95	9,529,700	5	505,500
White other	95	937,800	5	50,400	94	1,094,900	6	73,100
Other	91	258,700	9	25,400	88	210,100	12	28,800

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Permanent and temporary employment By ethnicity and gender Summary

The data shows that, among working age people in employment:

• 6% of women and 5% of men were in temporary employment in 2022
• in every ethnic group, a higher percentage of women than men were in temporary employment – out of all ethnic groups, the largest difference was in the Asian ‘other’, and ‘other’ ethnic groups (both 3 percentage points)
• in every ethnic group except the black group, a higher percentage of men than women were in permanent employment
• in the Asian ‘other’ ethnic group, 94% of men and 90% of women were in permanent employment – the largest difference between men and women out of all ethnic groups

7. Data sources

Source

Annual Population Survey

Type of data

Survey data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Office for National Statistics

Note on corrections or updates

Higher-level figures may differ from those published by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Office for National Statistics that use the Labour Force Survey.

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

The Annual Population Survey (APS) is the largest ongoing household survey in the UK and covers a range of topics, including:

• personal characteristics
• labour market status
• work characteristics
• education
• health

The purpose of the APS is to provide information on important social and socio-economic variables at local levels, such as labour market estimates.

The published statistics also allow the government to monitor estimates on a range of issues between censuses.

8. Download the data

Permanent and temporary employment 2021 - Spreadsheet (csv) 2 MB

This file contains the following variables: Measure, Employment_type (temporary, permanent), Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Time, Time_type, geography, geography_type, sex, value, value_type, confidence_interval, Numerator, Denominator, Sample_size

Publication release date: 28 November 2023

full page history

1. 28 November 2023 Updated with the latest available data.

From: Office for National Statistics

Previous editions:

1. 9 September 2022
2. 18 May 2021

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