Are you an employee yearning to quit your job and start consulting? Are you exploring other ways to make income from your professional knowledge and skills? Is consultancy the new frontier for your career growth?

Here are five reasons why you should consider a consulting career.
1. A Changing Employment Landscape
According to a McKinsey report (McKinsey, Sept 8, 2022), more than 15 million workers have quit their jobs since April 2021, an authentic post-pandemic blues for employers whose businesses have hugely been disrupted. The survey was conducted in the US, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and Canada across similar industries, viz healthcare, hospitality and leisure, education, and white collar. The McKinsey study further revealed that 40% more employees were expected to leave their jobs before the end of 2021.
Employees cited three main reasons for the mass exits: lack of a sense of belonging at work, not feeling valued by their organizations, and not feeling valued by their managers. The report suggests that from the employee standpoint, there is a quest for a new and a renewed sense of purpose; more social and interpersonal connections; autonomy, and flexible working arrangements. These employees, McKinsey observes, were withdrawing completely from traditional full-time employment.
In a FreshBooks report quoted in Forbes, in 2021, 27 million Americans were expected to quit corporate employment for self-employment, while 62% of Americans want to own their own business. These statistics underscore the growing quest among the working class for more autonomous ways of working class, reasons for which are as varied as individual motivations can be.
2. It is all in the Demographics
This might come as a surprise, but according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics (Feb 2021), a typical employee stays at a job for over four years. While they move within or across industries, many more take on consulting. That same study found that these numbers apply to both men and women. At the same time, older employees hold a longer tenure at a company than their younger counterparts, typically Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980.
Gen X is young, results-oriented, and highly independent. They are today’s corporate managers, lawyers, IT geeks, financial analysts, marketers, and actuaries. Enter Generation Y, better known as Millennials. They are confident, tech-savvy, and collaborative. This category values exciting work but also strives for work balance. Think fashion bloggers’ social media influencers, and the list is endless. According to Time Magazine, Gen Y, young and marketable, will not hold a job for more than five years. Consulting offers these younger demographics more flexible and satisfying options.
3. The Booming Frontier
Forbes reports that consulting is a US$ 250 billion industry growing and is considered one of the largest and most mature markets within the professional services industry. [1]The CSI Market analysis further gives some impressive and competitive data for the consultancy industry, vis a vis such significant sectors as energy, oil and gas, retail, financial markets, healthcare, and utilities.[2]
Consulting covers various industries and services: finance, legal, healthcare, education, media telecommunication, retail, utilities, and manufacturing, as well as the public, development, and humanitarian sectors.

Source: Consultancy.org
According to Forbes, businesses are employing fewer and fewer full-time employees while relying more on independent contractors. It is reported that McKinsey, one of the top 3 global consultancy management firms, receives more than one million applications annually yet only hires 1%. This, while the number of independent consultants, needs to be updated.
4. Low tax
If low tax is not a motivation for you to seek to work as an independent consultant, then you may have yet to stumble upon one of the main secrets of the rich. First, let’s be clear. The consultancy fee is taxable. Yes. Just like a business, consultancy income is taxed as professional fees. That means your colossal contract fee will be taxed. Yet, consultancy taxes remain favorable in many countries compared to other tax forms, such as income and corporate taxes.
The country with the highest income tax rate in 2022 is Ivory Coast at 60%, while most of the world’s economies fall between 30-56%. For example, the highest income tax rates for OECD countries are Japan (55.97%); Denmark (55.90%); Austria ( 55.00%), Sweden (52.90%); Belgium (50.00%); Israel (50.00% ), and Slovenia (50%), according to https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/highest-taxed-countries.
The Tax Foundation reports that the global average corporate income rate is 23.85%. This varies, obviously, across economic regions, with Europe having the lowest rate at an average of 19.99%. The bad news is that this can be as high as 30%, especially in emerging economies such as those in Sub Sahara Africa, ranging between 30 and 40% (https://www.cgdev.org/blog/what-influences-tax-rates-sub-saharan-africa)
Consultancy services are taxed under withholding tax in most jurisdictions. On average, these range from 0% for dividends in most jurisdictions to 20%, with most countries charging 5, 10, and 15% for interests and royalties. Outliers like France charge 75%, and Brazil and Argentina up to 35%. But these are countable. And so, consulting practice typically remains within a tax-friendly zone. Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of this, especially after years of toil and tax? If not for anything else, this is good motivation to set up and become a consultant.
5. Increased Automation in the Workplace
The McKinsey Employee Attrition report cited above was preceded by another landmark analysis on the impact of automation on work, which boldly predicts that half the activities people are paid to do globally could be automated using present-day technologies. It is expected that one-third of those activities in about 60% of the occupations could be automated. With such damning, statistically backed predictions, is employment still a safe bet for many?
Have you considered consulting, and what is your reason?
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