Two thirds of contract and temporary roles in the rapidly-growing field of e-commerce are taken by women, new research suggests.
Specialist recruitment firm Cranberry Panda’s 2015 salary survey reveals that contracting and freelancing is becoming an increasingly popular way of working within e-commerce.
The report finds that female contractors have managed to smash through the glass ceiling and overturn the male dominance that exists in the e-commerce sector.
Across the permanent and contract market, men outnumber women by 53% to 47%. Although a pay gap does exist, it is less pronounced than in most industries and is closing.
While the sector is still largely dominated by ‘traditional’ full-time permanent roles, some 10% of survey respondents work on a contract basis.
In a further indication of the fluidity of the jobs market, some 45% of those questioned had been in their role for less than a year. Only 5% had been with their current employer for more than five years.
The report also found that most people expect their e-commerce team to grow this year. The sector is described as ‘young’, with only 3% of responses coming from those aged over 45.
‘Hot’ skills within e-commerce include web analysis, user experience (UX), web designers and search.
Jonathan Hall, CEO and founder at Cranberry Panda, said: “There is significant growth happening across the retail e-commerce sector. With more than half of all roles for online retailers being brand new jobs, there is a constant shortage of great people.”
Click here to download the report.
Have your say
Are you a contractor working in e-commerce, or a ‘permie’ thinking of making the leap to becoming a freelancer? What do you think of the survey findings? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below, or getting in touch via Twitter.
