Written reply to PQ on Proportion of Workers Hired as Employees and as Freelancers in Creative Industries

Question

Ms See Jinli Jean: To ask 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.

Written Answer by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong

1. In 2022, there were about 76,000 workers in the creative industries, of which 82 per cent (or 62,000) were employees and 18 per cent (or 14,000) were freelancers. Of the employees, 44 per cent worked in micro-enterprises, 32 per cent in small enterprises, and 24 per cent 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.