Growth in zero-hours contracts slowed down last year

The growth in zero-hours contract jobs has slowed as companies shy away from negative publicity, while record employment means workers are less likely to accept such terms.

Figures show such contracts reached a record 910,000 by the end of 2016, but there was an increase of just 7,000 in the last six months of the year.

The 0.8% rise was much slower than the 7.7% growth in the latter half of 2015 and slightly slower than employment growth across the economy.

It was the first time zero-hours contracts had not grown substantially faster than overall employment since 2013, when they began to become the subject of public scrutiny, according to the Resolution Foundation think tank's analysis of official data.

Conor D'Arcy, from the Resolution Foundation, said: "While the growth in these contracts has continued, beneath the surface there are signs of change, with a marked slowing of their uptake in the last six months of 2016.

"This is about more than just the general slowdown in employment growth, with a bigger drop visible in the growth of zero-hours contracts.

"The negative publicity these contracts have attracted may well have played a role in their slowdown, as firms rethink their use."

The report also pointed to employers finding it harder to fill roles without guaranteeing hours as they face the possibility of the labour supply drying up after Brexit.

Mr D'Arcy said: "Not providing guaranteed hours of work for those who want it, especially those in low paying roles, can have a huge negative impact on the living standards of workers and their families, as budgeting becomes near impossible.

"The challenge now is to ensure that these still-popular contracts are reserved for cases of genuine desired flexibility for worker and employer."

Zero-hours contracts have been in the spotlight thanks to the criticism over the employment practices of firms such as Sports Direct.

The company announced in September that it was scaling back its use of workers employed under such contracts following a review of working practices.

The Resolution Foundation analysed raw data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which publishes its own breakdown of zero-hours contracts numbers later this month.