According to published figures, this is the largest growth in employment in the European Union market. The total number of self-employed workers accounts for about 15% of the total number of employed persons throughout the European Union.
The largest increase in the number of freelancers has been recorded in the Netherlands, where the number of freelancers has increased by as much as 92% in the past 10 years. Our neighbors Italians have 23.4% of self-employed professionals, while Russia stands at 35%. In Slovakia, whose market is approximately similar in size to that of Croatia, every 9th person is a freelancer.
In the United Kingdom the numbers are even greater. Around one-and-a-half Brits are engaged as freelancers, and the value of their work for the British budget is estimated at as much as 21 billion pounds, or about 176 billion HRK.
“The need for quality freelance services here in London is huge and is steadily rising, mostly for the design and IT industries,” said Dragan Vejnović, a Croat with a London address and founder of the Megaframe platform which introduces domestic, Croatian freelancers to the British market.
Although being an independent professional is very uncertain and insecure occupation due to constant need for finding new jobs and clients, Dragan claims that Megaframe doesn’t have this problem. “In England, we are currently working on several major projects with production companies and other clients, and we have also recently expanded to the Australian market where we have won an international pitch for one of their biggest soccer clubs, so there is certainly no shortage of jobs,” says Vejnović.
Asked about the differences between doing business with Croatian and UK clients, Vejnović thinks the differences are minimal, and that an increasing number of Croatian companies are using their services.
“It seems to me that the culture of engaging freelancers in Croatia is on the rise and that we aren’t much behind Europe in this respect. As far as we are concerned, we often get inquiries from Croatia and we are mostly satisfied with the cooperation we have achieved,” Vejnović concludes.
