# 15.8, Working for a company vs working for yourself: a year‑by‑year comparison
You won't find a neat ONS chart saying "Year 1–10 PAYE vs self‑employed", but there's enough UK data and industry reality to give you a clear, honest picture.
1. Is there 5–10 year comparison data?
ONS tracks how many people in construction are employed vs self‑employed, but not a tidy "career path" chart by year for each route. Dataset EMP14 shows construction has one of the highest self‑employment shares in the UK – around 750,000 self‑employed workers in construction by late 2025.
Broader ONS analysis of self‑employment income finds that, across the economy, self‑employed income has more volatility and slower average growth than employee pay in many periods.
In UK construction, both paths are common: lots start employed and drift to self‑employment over time. Long‑term, self‑employment can give a higher ceiling but more ups and downs than staying on wages.
2. Earnings at years 1, 3, 5 and 10, realistic ranges
These are ballpark bands, not promises. Based on ONS employee medians plus Hudson's CIS pay trends as anchors.
Employed (PAYE) tradesperson
Using ASHE medians and typical progression:
| Stage | Typical annual earnings |
|---|---|
| Year 1 (newly qualified) | £27k–£32k. Electricians/plumbers often at the higher end. |
| Year 3 | £30k–£36k with experience, more with overtime or supervisory bits. |
| Year 5 (extra tickets, solid reputation) | £33k–£40k in many trades, higher in strong regions or with regular overtime. |
| Year 10 (experienced hand or chargehand level) | High‑30s to mid‑40s, with some going higher in specialist roles or on price work. |
This lines up with ONS medians in the high‑20s to high‑30s for key trades, with the upper quartile running above that.
Self‑employed / CIS tradesperson
Using Hudson Contract's typical weekly turnover (~£950–£1,050/week average), adjusted down for early years:
| Stage | Typical turnover | Realistic net take‑home |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | £30k–£45k (includes quiet weeks) | £22k–£28k after materials, van, insurance, tools, tax. Often similar to a decent PAYE wage. |
| Year 3 (pipeline built, pricing tighter) | £40k–£55k | £26k–£35k for someone half‑decent with money. |
| Year 5 (busy, established) | £50k–£70k+ | £32k–£45k+. Can beat PAYE, but with more fluctuation. |
| Year 10 (wide spread) | Very variable | £35k–£60k+ personal income depending on trade, region, team size and how you run it. |
ONS' self‑employment work backs up the general pattern: higher upside for the successful self‑employed, but a lot of people don't actually out‑earn similar employees.
3. Job security: redundancy vs income volatility
Employed in construction
Construction is cyclical. During downturns, redundancy spikes: industry reports have highlighted periods where tens of thousands of construction workers were made redundant in just a few months during recessions.
More recently, redundancy rates have fallen to low levels as labour shortages bite, but the risk never disappears – if the firm or sector you're in wobbles, jobs can go.
Self‑employed
You're unlikely to be "made redundant", but your income can drop to zero overnight if:
- Major contractors stop calling.
- Your main customer goes bust.
- You're ill or injured.
ONS and wider research on self‑employment show that income for the self‑employed is far more volatile year‑to‑year than for employees.
The trade‑off:
- PAYE – more formal protections (redundancy rights, notice, sick pay), but you're exposed to firm‑level decisions and downturns.
- Self‑employed – you're more diversified if you have multiple clients, but you absorb all the income risk personally and have no safety net if you can't work.
On wages, the risk is the company. Self‑employed, the risk is your pipeline and your body.
4. The hybrid model, how common and what are the issues?
The hybrid model is very common in construction, even if the stats don't label it that way.
EMP14 and other data show hundreds of thousands of self‑employed in construction alongside millions of employees. A chunk of those "employees" also do private work on the side, and many CIS subcontractors treat certain clients as "regular jobs" and others as ad‑hoc.
You can be both
PAYE with an employer and self‑employed/CIS on the side, as long as you:
- Register separately as self‑employed and under CIS for your side work.
- Keep proper records and report all income.
The big issue: employment status and CIS misuse
HMRC expects contractors to treat people as employees if the reality looks like employment (controlled hours, only one client, no right of substitution, paid by the hour, using their kit).
If a "hybrid" relationship is basically a full‑time job disguised as CIS, HMRC can hammer the contractor for back‑dated PAYE and NICs.
How to do hybrid properly
- Hybrid is normal and can be smart: e.g. 4 days on payroll, 1 day self‑employed, or PAYE plus weekend private jobs.
- Make sure side work is clearly your own customers, not the same employer pretending you're self‑employed.
- Keep separate records and register properly so you're not accidentally under‑declaring.
What to do next
- Read: 15.2 – Stay employed or go self-employed? The honest comparison (the detailed benefits breakdown)
- Read: 15.6 – The money reality · what you'll actually earn in years 1-3 (where the costs actually go)
- Read: 15.3 – Going self-employed straight out of college · realistic or stupid?
- Read: S7 – Self-employed vs employed (the HMRC status angle)
- Read: 14.2 – How to price your first job without underselling yourself
- Download: Self-employed vs employed comparison worksheet (once live in Doc Hub)
- Use: Employment Status Checker · if your "hybrid" setup feels more like disguised employment
Sources (UK)
- ONS EMP14 dataset – self-employment in UK construction, ~750,000 self-employed workers by late 2025.
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) – median employee earnings by trade SOC code at years 1, 3, 5, 10.
- ONS labour share and mixed income analysis – self-employed income volatility, slower average growth than employee compensation.
- Hudson Contract – weekly self-employed construction pay benchmarking (CIS operatives), ~£950–£1,050/week average.
- HMRC Employment Status Manual (ESM) – IR35, CEST tool, employment status rules.
- Industry reports – construction redundancy patterns during downturns, cyclical employment data.
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