Decline in freelance workers stabilizes, except in healthcare, construction
The number of freelancers calling it quits remained virtually stable in February. In the preceding months, significantly more freelancers threw in the towel in the run-up to stricter rules against fake self-employment.
The largest exodus occurred in healthcare and construction. In February, the decrease in these sectors was still the largest, but it too was minimal, the Telegraaf reported based on figures from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) for February 2025. In the healthcare sector, the number of self-employed people decreased by 700 last month (-0.3 percent). The construction sector’s freelancers decreased by 280 people (-0.1 percent).
Joris Knoben, a professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Tilburg School of Economics and Management, is surprised that the number of freelancers seems to be stabilizing. In the business services sector, the largest sector in terms of self-employed people, there was even growth again in February.
“Based on all the messages from clients, I had expected a larger decrease in any case,” Knoben told the newspaper. “A possible explanation is that due to the uncertainty, self-employed people are not yet deregistering at the Chamber of Commerce in the hope of being able to continue working as self-employed people. Self-employed people do not go bankrupt quickly and can therefore easily remain registered for a while, even if they temporarily have no or few assignments.”
On 28 February 2025, the KVK had 1,770,355 self-employed persons registered in its Trade Register. That is 1,600 more than a month earlier, an increase of 0.1 percent.
The total number of freelancers who quit self-employment increased by 2,500 compared to February 2024, an increase of 42 percent. The number of new freelancers decreased by 4,400 (-23 percent) compared to a year ago. This trend of fewer new freelancers and more quitting ones has been visible for months.
