On-call and temporary workforce jumps higher as 88,000 quit subcontracting
The number of workers with a flexible contract in the Netherlands increased by 63,000 in the first quarter of this year compared to a year earlier. The increase was especially visible in on-call and temporary workers, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported. At the same time, the number of self-employed persons dropped by 88,000, with especially freelancers with no employees calling it quits.
According to CBS economist Peter Hein van Mulligen, this shift has to do with the Tax Authority’s crackdown on fake self-employment - companies using freelancers to do work that should be done by someone with a permanent contract.
The number of flexible workers - workers with a fixed-term employment contract or with a flexible number of hours per week - has increased for three quarters in a row. In the first quarter of this year, 2.7 million workers held a flexible contract, 63,000 more than in 2025. The increase was strongest in on-call or substitute workers. The group of workers with temporary contracts and no prospects of a permanent contract also increased.
“We cannot see it exactly in our figures, but this could very well be related to the fact that fewer self-employed workers are being deployed,” CBS chief economist Peter Hein van Mulligen told AD.
The Tax Authority has been enforcing the rules against false self-employment more strictly since January 2025. In the year since, the number of freelancers and other self-employed people dropped by 88,000 to almost 1.5 million people in Q1 of 2026. This number has been falling for five consecutive quarters.
According to Van Mulligen, many companies don't dare give freelancers new assignments, but the demand for workers who can be flexibly deployed has not diminished. “These are, for example, companies that work extensively on a project basis; they appreciate being able to deploy people flexibly. The only option left for them then is the flexible contract.”
Van Mulligen thinks that the increase in flexible workers has little to do with the current economic uncertainty and rising prices. “Whether the economy is doing well or badly, employers always need a flexible workforce.” But it is these workers who get the axe first when the economy takes a turn for the worse, he added. “If there is less work due to the economy, employers want to manage with fewer people. And a flexible employment contract is easier to terminate than a permanent one.”
The number of workers with a permanent contract is also still growing, rising by 60,000 compared to the first quarter of 2025. According to Van Mulligen, this has to do with the tight labor market. “Companies that struggle to find new people hope to be more attractive to new staff by offering permanent positions.”
In total, 9.8 million people in the Netherlands had paid work in the first quarter, 35,000 more than a year earlier.
