In an anonymous survey of 1,172 self-employed freelancers (known locally as zzp’ers), one-in-13 (7.7%) consider themselves to be falsely self-employed, according to a survey from ZZP Barometer.

The Dutch Bureau for Statistics estimated that there were 714,100 zzp’ers working in the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2014 so, if the survey is a representative sample, that would equate to almost 55,000 misclassified workers.

Jeroen Sakkers, founder of the ZZP Barometer, commented: “The number of zzp’ers who think they are falsely self-employed is highest in the Creative sector.”

By sector, 14.6% of zzp’ers in the Creative sector consider themselves to be falsely self-employed, followed by the Education sector (14.3%), and the Marketing, Communication, and PR sector (13.2%).

The lowest levels of false self-employment were found in Construction (2.5%), followed by Business Services (5%), and Engineering (5.7%).

The spike in false self-employment is attributed to the financial crisis. Among zzp’ers who have worked for more than five years, the percentage who consider themselves falsely self-employed is 4.1%, much lower than those who started working during the global financial crisis.

“We only see a higher rate of false self-employment among zzp’ers who have been operating from two to five years, which are probably those who started in the middle of the crisis,” Mr Sakkers concluded.

The number of zzp-ers in the Netherlands has risen by +26.6% since 2009 and, if the growth remains unchecked, the country could have more than 1 million independent contractors by 2020.

To access the full report, click here.