More than one million people in the UK are on zero-hours contracts, new data has revealed, despite Labour’s pledge to eliminate the “exploitative” contracts last year.
Some 1.17 million people were on zero-hours contracts in January to March of this year meaning that they are not guaranteed any minimum working hours by their employer.
The only period on record when more people in the UK were on zero-hours contracts was between April and June of 2023, when 1.2 million workers were in such roles.
Labour ushered in a plan to offer guaranteed working hours as part of its Employment Rights Bill, which is currently being scrutinised in the House of Lords.
As a result, experts expected that bosses would shy away from zero-hours contracts; but in fact, the opposite has happened, with a 12.5 per cent increase in the past year.
“The law is likely to be passed later this year, and we had expected to see the start of a long-term decline of zero-hour contracts in the UK,” said Rebecca Florisson, analyst at the Work Foundation.
“But this marked increase may signal some employers are resistant to dropping zero-hour contracts ahead of new legislation being introduced.”
The figures are a concern with the UK seeing 106,000 fewer employees on the payroll compared to the previous year, according to new ONS statistics.
Around 130,000 more people have been employed via zero-hours contracts in the first quarter of 2025 than were last year.
This makes up 3.4 per cent of the total UK workforce, according to the latest Labour Force Survey.
“Many workers are currently trapped in these unstable jobs as they have limited choices to find other forms of employment, and often have to trade security for much-needed flexibility to manage their health or their childcaring responsibilities,” explained Ms Florisson.
One in four (25 per cent) of these workers – 291,000 people – are working fewer hours than they’d like, the data shows, and are either seeking more hours, an additional job, or a new job with longer hours.
Some people are drawn to zero-hours contracts due to their temporary nature, but the majority (67 per cent) of people on these contracts have been with their employer for over a year; and some for 10 years or more.
Women are more likely to be employed in this way than men, but concerningly make up 81 per cent of the growth in zero-hours contracts in the past year.
“The growth in zero-hour contracts is likely to impact groups facing structural inequalities in the labour market,” warns Ms Florisson.
“Zero-hour contract work is often concentrated in lower paid sectors like retail and hospitality, and our previous research has shown that women, young and older workers are more likely to be in routine and semi-routine jobs in these sectors.”
Young people aged 24 and under are most likely to work on zero-hours contracts, and also more likely to be in education while working.
But hundreds of thousands of people in older age groups also work on “unstable” contracts, including 321,000 people aged 50 and above.
Research from the Work Foundation at Lancaster University also suggests that three in four people working zero-hours contracts are in “severely insecure” work.
“This means they face a worrying mix of financial and contractual insecurity, which also limits their rights and protections,” says Ms Florisson.
The East Midlands sees the highest proportion of workers on zero-hours contracts, at 4.7 per cent of all people in employment; a jump from 3.7 per cent the previous quarter.
When will the Employment Rights Bill come into force?
A package of labour reforms was introduced in the Employment Rights Bill last year.
As part of the bill, zero-hour contracts without the offer of work will be banned, and guaranteed hours will be set by the number worked in a twelve-week period.
The bill passed in its third reading by a majority of 233 votes, and is undergoing scrutiny in the House of Lords.
A timeline for implementation is not yet set, but the majority of reforms are not expected to take effect until at least late 2026.
“Employers report that their labour costs are increasing due to the rise in the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage and the increase in employer National Insurance Contributions,” said Ms Florisson.
“In that context, it is possible that employers will continue using zero-hour contracts for as long as they can as a way to balance out resourcing demands and increasing costs.”
