Proportion of Workers Hired as Employees and as Freelancers in Creative Industries

Ms See Jinli Jean asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry (a) what current proportion of the about 63,000 workers in the creative industries are (i) employees and (ii) freelancers; (b) what is the average ratio of employee to freelancer for creative (i) micro-enterprises (ii) small enterprises and (iii) medium to large enterprises; and (c) for the past 10 years, what is the multiplier of the indicated value-add per worker to the average pay of (i) employee and (ii) freelancer.

In 2022, there were about 76,000 workers in the creative industries, of which, 82%, or 62,000, were employees and 18%, or 14,000, were freelancers. Of the employees, 44% worked in micro-enterprises, 32% in small enterprises and 24% in medium to large enterprises. These employees generated a value-add of about $184,000 per worker, or around 3.3 times the median annual income of employed residents in the creative industries. We do not track companies' engagements of freelancers or the value-add generated by freelancers.