Free professions grow despite the crisis: expectations and challenges increase!

Free professions grow despite the crisis: expectations and challenges increase!

In the current economic situation of Germany, there is a remarkable phenomenon: While the overall economy stumbles, the free professions grow. In a survey by the Federal Association of Free Professions (BfB), 39.5 percent of freelancers rate their business situation as good, which represents an increase of over two percentage points compared to the previous year. However, this positive assessment is in the strong contrast to the challenges with which the overall economy is confronted; For 2025, the IFO Institute predicts only a measly growth of 0.2 percent. Many even fear the third year of crisis in a row, as the Chamber of Industry and Commerce states.

Not all freelancers look optimistically into the future. While legal, tax and economic counseling is quite confident, the health professions express considerable concerns. According to the latest survey, a third of the freelancers appreciate an unfavorable development in the next six months. The uncertainty stirs from the crises of recent years, including corona pandemic, rising energy costs and the ongoing shortage of skilled workers.

Personnel questions and utilization

Personnel planning is another hot topic. A gratifying trend is shown by the fact that 14.1 percent of those surveyed expect their number of employees to increase in the next two years. This is an increase of 12.8 percent in the previous year. At the same time, however, a significant part also says that they do not want to reduce employees - the number of freelancers who expect personnel loss has dropped from 22.7 percent to 19.4 percent.

A clear signal that reflects the committed utilization of the freelancers: 36.5 percent are already working on the limit, and 41.7 percent state that between 75 and 100 percent. This indicates a narrow job market that hardly allows capacity reserves. But how many freelancers fear overload? Currently, 35.2 percent of overload reports, and about 10 percent expect the situation to be tightened in the next six months.

The pressure on politics

With this worrying situation, the pressure on the federal government grows. BFB President Stephan Hofmeister urgently demands less bureaucracy, faster approval processes and more stable framework conditions. It is also noteworthy that 98 percent of German medium -sized companies want an end to bureaucracy. It is often noted that there is a critical educational and specialist situation, whereby the BfB also indicates a gap in the government's investment focus.

The specialist monitoring of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) deals intensively with the question of securing skilled workers. The assessment of unused potential in women, non-German and older workers will be crucial for the next few years. Current studies show that demographic change will also have a direct impact on the labor market and that challenges in personnel recruitment could further exaggerate.

Despite these mixed framework conditions, the free professions contribute around 10 percent to the gross domestic product. With around 1.485 million self -employed, this is a contribution that should not be underestimated. It will be interesting to see how the situation is developing, especially since the immigration and the tendency to work are not enough to effectively absorb the decline in the employed.

Overall, there is a diverse picture for the free professions: positive growth contrasts with worrying trends in the general economic situation. The dialogue between free professions and politics could be crucial here to get the challenges under control and to secure the future of this industry.