The flexible labor market is shrinking: where have the professionals gone?

From 22% to 18% in eighteen months

The Dutch labor market comprises more than 4.2 million highly educated professionals. Approximately 775,000 of them work as independent professionals or contractors employed through staffing firms. This represents a significantly smaller proportion than at the end of 2024. The share of flexible workers peaked just before the enforcement moratorium on false self-employment ended. Since then, it has steadily declined. So far, the Talent Monitor shows no clear signs of this trend slowing down.

Meanwhile, organizations have adjusted their external hiring policies. Contracts have become stricter, and organizations are taking a more critical approach to engaging independent professionals. They have also reduced their flexible workforces. According to the Talent Monitor, anticipation of stricter enforcement appears to have had a greater effect so far than actual enforcement.

Fewer professionals are actively looking for assignments

You might expect more professionals to actively seek work as the number of available assignments declines. However, the figures tell a different story. Among independent professionals, approximately 22% to 23% are actively looking for a new assignment, compared to around 25% at the beginning of 2025. The decline is even more pronounced among professionals employed through staffing firms. Their labor market activity peaked at 32% in 2024 and has since fallen to 24%.

This does not automatically mean that finding assignments has become easier. The number of available assignments has been declining since 2022, with the downturn accelerating from 2025 onwards. A possible explanation may therefore lie elsewhere. Professionals who struggled to find new assignments over an extended period may have left the flexible labor market. As a result, they are no longer included in the figures for active assignment seekers. Those who remain active in the market are relatively more likely to be working.

A shift to permanent employment explains only part of the trend

Does this mean large numbers of independent professionals are returning to salaried employment? The Talent Monitor provides no evidence of this either.

Approximately 13% of independent professionals are open to moving into salaried employment. This percentage has remained relatively stable. Meanwhile, the proportion of employees interested in becoming self-employed has also stabilized at around 13%. The picture is therefore more nuanced than a widespread return to permanent jobs. Preferences also vary significantly by sector. In local and regional government, for example, only 4% of independent professionals want to move into salaried employment, while as many as 59% explicitly rule out this option. In the energy and utilities sector, willingness to make the switch is considerably higher, with 23% indicating an interest in moving into salaried employment.

The decline varies significantly by sector

In local and regional government, the share of flexible workers fell from 13% in 2022 to 7% in 2026. In the energy and utilities sector, this share dropped from nearly 25% to 11%. The financial services sector has fallen from a peak of 28% to around the market average of 18%. Logistics, transport and manufacturing is the exception. Here, the share of flexible workers increased from 8% in 2022 to 12% in 2026, even though the number of assignments is approximately 60% lower than four years ago.

A national percentage tells organizations only part of the story. The availability of external professionals is closely linked to sector, expertise and contract preferences.

What does a smaller flexible talent pool mean for organizations?

In the short term, the current market offers organizations a relatively wide range of professionals to choose from. The number of applications per assignment is more than three times higher than at the beginning of 2022. However, the flexible labor market has become structurally smaller. When demand for external specialist expertise increases, organizations will be drawing from a smaller pool of professionals, and availability could change rapidly. That is why it is important to look beyond the number of applications. Which skills and expertise remain available? Which professionals are moving into other sectors? And which groups continue to have a strong preference for independent work?

Want to know how the availability of independent professionals is developing in your sector? HeadFirst, powered by Vertage, combines up-to-date external hiring data with labor market data. This provides insights into the latest trends in talent availability, sector preferences and external hiring. The latest Talent Monitor brings together all the key figures and analyses. Find out what is happening in the flexible labor market and what it means for your organization.