The big shift: fewer self-employed people, but the desire to start is greater than ever

This is a striking combination and an important one to understand if you are a self-employed professional or want to become one.

1. The number of self-employed professionals has fallen, which is a new development

In the last quarter of 2024, the Netherlands saw a peak in the number of self-employed professionals. However, due to the resumption of enforcement against bogus self-employment, that number fell sharply in 2025.

• The total number of self-employed people fell by approximately 80,000, a decrease of 7.3% compared to the peak.

• The proportion of self-employed people in the working population fell from 11.1% to 10.3%.

This is remarkable, given that we have seen nothing but growth for years.

Where is the biggest decline?

Not among the highly educated, but among self-employed people with secondary education:

• −11.4% among those with secondary education

• −4.0% among the highly educated

This indicates that self-employed people in professions with lower rates and higher embedding risk are being hit harder.

2. Why is the self-employed population shrinking?

Enforcement against bogus self-employment

From 2025 onwards, enforcement became significantly stricter. Some self-employed people returned to salaried employment, causing the percentage of self-employed people returning to salaried employment to temporarily almost double from 2.3% to 4.4%.

Less inflow than during the peak of the labor shortage

In times of extreme scarcity (2021–2022), many workers dared to take the leap into self-employment. Now that the market is normalizing, this is declining.

Economic caution

Although the economy is growing slightly (+1.2% expected in 2026), companies are more cautious about hiring. For starters, this means less security.

3. But... the desire to start as a self-employed person remains extremely high.

And that makes this shift particularly interesting.

Despite the decline in the actual number of self-employed people, the desire among employees remains strong:

• 12.6% of the Dutch working population wants to become self-employed.
  That is approximately 1 million employees.

By comparison:

Only 12% of current self-employed people want to return to salaried employment (approx. 120,000).

So there is no shortage of ambition. It's just that the climate for starting out is a little more challenging at the moment.

Why do so many people still want to start out?

The Talent Monitor cites several reasons:

• Autonomy remains irresistible.
• More people want portfolio careers.
• Rate transparency is growing.
• AI makes working independently technically easier than ever.

Self-employment therefore remains attractive, but the system surrounding it is causing friction.

4. Market is changing: more competition, less scarcity

The Talent Monitor shows a clear shift towards a buyer's market:

• Organizations receive four times more offers per assignment than during the peak in 2021.
  

• Assignments without responses have almost disappeared.

• Self-employed professionals are only actively approached by clients about 15 times a year, the lowest level in years.

For professionals, this means that the bar is higher than a few years ago, especially for juniors and generalists.

5. What does this mean for you as a self-employed professional (or starter)?

If you are already self-employed

• There is more competition, so specialization pays off.
• Junior roles are disappearing faster, seniority is becoming more valuable.
• It is more important than ever to be visible (portfolio, personal branding).

If you want to start

• The market is more realistic, not impossible.
• Choosing a niche makes everything easier: higher chance of assignments, better rates.
• There is room for professionals who use AI smartly.

Why now is the time to do business smartly

The major shift in the labor market is clear:

• Fewer freelancers, mainly due to enforcement and economic caution.
• More competition, especially in generic roles.
• But at the same time: the desire to start is greater than ever.

Working independently remains attractive, but in 2026 it will require more strategy, focus, and professionalism than before.