Around 30 percent more people have quit self-employment compared to last year

The number of self-employed people who signed themselves out at the Chamber of Commerce (KvK) has risen by 30 percent in 2024 compared to 2023. Around 77,000 people signed themselves out this year compared to 60,000 who signed themselves out during the first six months of 2023, according to Onderneming.nl.

“We often ask retiring members about the reason for their deregistration, recently the answer has increasingly been that they are becoming employed,” said Frank Alfrink, the chairman of ZZP Nederland, an organization for self-employed people in the country.

For many, the reason is probably the new rules set by the Cabinet to combat false self-employed people. The Belastingdienst, the country’s tax office, is going to start checking whether self-employed people are being hired for jobs that in reality, are more suited to employment conditions. These checks will begin on January 1.

According to ZZP Nederland, most of the people who are quitting their self-employment are in the government, business services, and healthcare sectors. Alfrink has said that he has even heard that memos are being sent around the government telling ministers that they are not allowed to hire self-employed people from January 1.

The organization believes the government is targeting the wrong people with their new plans. They believe that the self-employed people who are working for very low rates are a bigger issue and should be dealt with first.

“A dishwasher who charges 15 euros per hour cannot cover his entrepreneurial risks, just like migrant workers who work for a ridiculous hourly wage in the greenhouse horticulture or meat sector. Our message to The Hague is to bring focus. Leave the real entrepreneurs alone,” Alfrink said.

The declining popularity of self-employment can also be seen in a reduction of people who have applied to be self-employed in the last year. Over 120,000 people started as self-employed in 2023. This number was reduced by around 10 thousand people in 2024.