The impact of self employment on architects' job satisfaction.

The UK construction industry has been characterised as fragmented due to the high numbers of self-employed. Self-employment has been linked to many of the ingrained problems suffered by the sector, including the lack of investment in skills training, poorly integrated human resource policies and the poor treatment of workers. Accordingly there have been calls for a return to direct employment and a move away from the reliance on a self-employed workforce. Research within other sectors has suggested that the self-employed experience greater job satisfaction and work-life conflict than those in employment, although there is a paucity of research exploring this issue within the construction sector. This paper explores the experiences of those working within the architectural profession, where approximately one third are selfemployed. It reports on two phases of data collection, namely a questionnaire of architects, and semi-structured interviews with practicing architects. The questionnaire explored issues of job satisfaction, affective well-being, job demands and decision latitude, work-life balance and turnover intentions. The results reveal that self-employed architects appear to experience greater job satisfaction, greater turnover intentions and greater work to life conflict. The semi-structured interviews revealed that self-employment enabled architects to express the creativity and autonomy which were key drivers for entry into the profession. These findings suggest that the relationship between employment status and job satisfaction is complex. Further work is needed with larger samples to fully understand the impact of self-employment on those working within the construction industry, and the consequences for workers and the sector.