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New research offers insight into true costs and benefits of independent professionals

New research offers insight into the true value of the total output for the Dutch economy of highly skilled self-employed workers, working for mostly large clients in business services (zp'ers). This amounts to 17.3 billion euros per year for the current population of 110,000 independent professionals. Although the social position of self-employed professionals is regularly under fire, the report "The Economic and Social Value of Independent Professionals" - which SEO conducted on behalf of HR tech service provider HeadFirst Group - makes clear what contribution this group of workers has for society. It shows, for example, that at the bottom of the line they provide additional revenues worth as much as 4.4 billion euros. This knowledge can contribute to better regulation in the future, and prevent obstructive policies.

"In our research we make clear the significance independent professionals have for our society and economy. This turns out to be undeniable, since their contribution to the economy has a value of euro per year. Without their input, some of this production would no longer take place or would be moved abroad. This would be at the expense of numerous jobs and lead to a great loss of knowledge. That is something we cannot afford, with the current tightness," said Marion van Happen, CEO of HeadFirst Group. "Zzp'ers are needed more than ever at a time when the labor market is screaming for qualified personnel. For example, specialists in different sectors are crucial, to make the transitions our society faces succeed. This applies to all workers - regardless of the form of contract. Unfortunately, there are still many misconceptions about the highly educated self-employed population. For example, it is wrongly assumed that they cost society more than they provide. The report shows that the real and great value of independent professionals for the economy and our society cannot be underestimated."

The social costs and benefits
According to the study, the social costs and benefits of independent professionals amount to a positive balance of as much as 4.4 billion euros per year. This positive balance is mainly the result of the additional production and profit realized through the use of the current population of 110,000 independent professionals. This is mainly the result of higher labor force participation. Without the possibility of self-employment, some of this production would no longer take place or move abroad. In addition, this positive balance of 4.4 billion euros per year also has to do with higher average productivity (+10 percent) compared to a situation where they would be working in another form of contract. Finally, government and society benefit from a higher profit and income tax, compared to a situation without self-employment. This is because more is worked, produced and earned - both by independent professionals and clients.

Call to politics
With this data, HeadFirst Group contributes to the political debate on the labor market, where impending regulations may severely limit self-employment. Van Happen: "We call on politicians to pay attention to the great value of independent professionals and to listen to the needs of clients. They appreciate the flexibility and possibilities of specialized professionals. This report shows that on balance there is a social added value by the possibility to work as an independent professional. Although less social contributions are paid, this is more than compensated by more tax revenue. Regulations for the base of the labor market - to combat false self-employment, for example - can have consequences for the rest of the market, however, and this can lead to loss of welfare. In addition, our earlier report on the entire self-employed population showed that the number of forced self-employed is minimal, contrary to what many policymakers believe. This group of workers deliberately chooses this form of contract precisely because of the degree of professional autonomy and flexibility it offers. Customization in legislation is therefore essential to combine protection of vulnerable workers with facilitating entrepreneurship."

Facts and figures about self-employed workers
The report contains many other interesting insights about highly educated self-employed people. An overview:

• It is estimated that over 110 thousand highly skilled independent professionals are now active in the Dutch labor market. This amounts to 10.2 percent of all self-employed people and 1.1 percent of all employed people.
• Highly educated self-employed workers work for the government (22 percent), business services (19 percent), financial services (15 percent) and in the healthcare and IT sectors (both 9 percent).
• Most highly educated self-employed workers work annually for a limited number of mostly larger clients. Most work for one client (38 percent) or two to five clients (45 percent). Only a small proportion work for five to 10 clients (10 percent). The part that works for a limited number of clients often does so for (very) large companies.
• Half of the highly educated self-employed are between the ages of 35 and 55. In addition, the proportion over 55 (33 percent) is almost twice as large as the proportion younger than 35 (17 percent).
• Almost a third of highly educated self-employed workers have been active in this form of work for more than 10 years and 13 percent even more than 20 years.
• Three in five highly educated self-employed workers work full-time; 32 percent are employed between 20 and 35 hours per week and 7 percent work less than 20 hours per week.
• Highly educated self-employed workers would, in a null alternative - if it were no longer possible to work as a self-employed worker - work in another form of employment in nine out of 10 cases. Almost a third would return to permanent employment, while 20 percent would be active as seconded workers. In addition, 12 percent are expected to be working in a regular temporary contract, while 10 percent would be inactive, working abroad or in (early) retirement.

Arco Elsman has been appointed managing director MSP services by HR tech service provider HeadFirst Group. This gives him ultimate responsibility for the success of Staffing Management Services and ProUnity, HeadFirst Group's two international Managed Service Providers. "The MSP market is ripe for innovation and international expansion, and with Arco we are excellently positioned to further strengthen our services in currently 15 countries and push our boundaries," said Marion van Happen, CEO HeadFirst Group.

MSP services are known worldwide as a progressive and efficient strategy whereby organizations outsource their hiring processes to external experts, the MSPs. Elsman brings over 20 years of knowledge and experience in the outsourced HR services industry, including MSP and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO). His impressive career includes leadership roles at leading organizations such as Yacht, where he held the position of operations director, Twago, as managing director of the freelance marketplace and talent pool, and carried European responsibility at Randstad RiseSmart until the end of 2023.

With that fresh perspective, he is now clearly ready for his new challenge: "I was looking for an organization where customer focus, innovative entrepreneurship and exponential growth are key. This is what I have found at HeadFirst Group. I look forward to using my experience in the human capital market to take the next step of growth - together with the enthusiastic team."

Van Happen added: "Arco is a perfect fit for this position for his empathy and client focus, as well as his astute talent management and proven success in internationalization and scaling HR tech companies. The initial focus is on successfully serving our existing clients, adding large clients to our portfolio and organizing consulting services. From this base, we will continue our ambitious internationalization strategy."

Global player
HeadFirst Group recently confirmed its agreement with Impellam Group to acquire Impellam. They intend to join forces to become a leading global player in MSP and talent management. The combination, with more than €7 billion in revenue (managed spend, by 2022), will enable accelerated growth opportunities in Europe, the U.K., North America and APAC. The appointment of Elsman as managing director of MSP services is consistent with this strategy.

Supplier Doxa specializes in the recruitment, selection and secondment of professionals in HR and marketing & communications. Nick van der Holst, Consultant HR, talks about the personal touch they strive for and how they found HeadFirst Group in this way of working.

As part of the Actos Group, in which each entity has its own specialization in the field of recruitment, Doxa says it is the "personal, idiosyncratic and sporting intermediary in the labor market." In cooperation with HeadFirst Group, Doxa is not "just" a supplier, it is a partner when it comes to job placement. Personal approach is one of the core values. "We are a compact team of four, with specialized services. As a result, we know our clients really well," explains Nick, who is responsible for HR assignments.

Personal contact

Doxa does not believe in one-size-fits-all mediation. "We work in our own way and have direct contact with the client. When HeadFirst Group introduces a candidate or client, we always call so we know exactly where we stand. Mutual trust and fast switching are the basic principles here. We always seek partnership and want to build relationships together. Short lines of communication with the client prove to be the most effective," says Nick.

Pressure on the labor market

In a tight labor market, many organizations experience pressure in the hiring process. Nick continues: "The labor market demands change. We notice that organizations are therefore open to a new approach. Our intake interviews focus on the individual. Even if at first glance a professional does not seem to be a complete fit, we can introduce someone who we believe is the right match. Doxa has a no-nonsense mentality and always strives for the best match between professional and client, with processes being secondary."

Honest and transparent

"Both to clients and professionals, we are always open and honest. People know where they stand with us. We arrange what is needed, left or right, thinking outside the box. Our professionals are highly regarded, which ultimately benefits the client as well. For example, we have a strong anti-discrimination policy. This means that we never propose a professional based on the resume. We do not provide background information, such as passport photo and location, because that is irrelevant to the profile," Nick emphasizes.

And that is Doxa: not traditional, but idiosyncratic. A personal approach that doesn't end with mediation, but continues with development. And from that mindset, they connect the right professionals with our clients.

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HeadFirst Group ("HeadFirst") and Impellam Group ("Impellam") announce that they have reached agreement on HeadFirst's acquisition of Impellam. They are joining forces to form a leading global player in MSP and talent management. The combination, with over €7 billion in revenue (managed spend, by 2022), will enable accelerated growth opportunities in Europe, UK, North America and APAC.

For HeadFirst, Impellam represents an attractive opportunity to invest in one of the world's market-leading Managed Services Providers and a leading group of companies specializing in recruitment for STEM (data, life sciences, tech & engineering) professionals. There is a clear strategic rationale for the combination of HeadFirst and Impellam that is expected to deliver the following benefits

• highly complementary geographic coverage, with limited to no overlap, creates a larger group with a strong presence in continental Europe, the United Kingdom, North America and APAC, which can benefit clients with a larger, global, geographic spread;
• complementary skills and expertise create significant opportunities for our clients and for cross-selling our services;
• HeadFirst Group's strong technology, data and digital platforms provide an opportunity to further improve operational and business performance within the larger group;
• a strong combined management team can continue to deliver on the long-term strategy of a larger group;
• more career opportunities for colleagues within the larger group.

Julia Robertson, CEO at Impellam Group, says: "We look forward to joining forces with HeadFirst to create a larger, more digital and diverse service offering with greater geographic reach. The combined strength of market-leading brands, cultures and people - balanced with technology from the expanded group - enables us to even better support our clients with their workforce management challenges across the UK, Europe, North America and APAC. At the same time, it provides more career opportunities for colleagues."

Han Kolff, Chairman of the board at HeadFirst Group, commented, "This merger will be groundbreaking, building on the complementary strengths of Impellam and HeadFirst. Together, we will become a global leader in mission-critical talent, enabling us to serve our clients, suppliers and professionals in an unparalleled way. We have an exciting journey ahead of us with plenty of opportunities for our teams, deepening HR technology and expanding geographic reach further and faster."

Future management of the group
HeadFirst Group aims to bring Impellam Group's key executive management, namely Julia Robertson (current Chief Executive Officer of Impellam Group) and Tim Briant (current Chief Financial Officer of Impellam Group) to the board as Group CEO and CFO, respectively. They will work together with board members Marion van Happen, who will also continue as CEO of HeadFirst Group, and Han Kolff, who will be non-executive Chairman, and non-executive board members Koen Bekkering and Boyd Sleeman, to drive the future success and growth of the new group.

For now, there are no changes in the day-to-day business of Impellam Group and HeadFirst Group. Impellam and HeadFirst will continue to provide their services to clients, suppliers and professionals unchanged. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2024.

An announcement with full details on the terms of the transaction can be read in full on the website headfirst.group/takeover

About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is a leading, international HR tech service provider and the largest platform for professionals in the Benelux, operating in fifteen European countries. The organization offers a diversity of HR solutions, such as Managed Service Providing, Recruitment Process Outsourcing, intermediary services (matchmaking, contracting) and HR consulting. More than 25 thousand professionals work for over five hundred clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of over two billion euros. The main brands of HeadFirst Group are the MSP (including intermediary services) labels HeadFirst, Between and Staffing Management Services, RPO and recruitment specialist Sterksen, IT talent sourcer StarApple and the Belgian HR technology company ProUnity.

About Impellam Group
Impellam Group is the holding company of a group of diverse, integrated labor market service providers in STEM talent (data, life sciences, tech & engineering), providing workforce solutions, talent management and recruitment and selection of professionals globally across various industry sectors and key end markets. Impellam Group's two main operating divisions provide the following services: 1) Global Managed Services ("GMS"): complete workforce solutions through multidisciplinary management of the overall talent process and 2) STEM: MSP, RPO, contracting, permanent employment and SOW workforce solutions focused on IT and digital specialists, data experts, scientists, clinicians and engineers. Impellam Group's divisions operate under several brand names, including Guidant Global and Comensura (GMS), as well as Carbon60, SRG, Lorien and Bartech (STEM).

On March 3, 2023, Impellam completed the sale of two previous operating divisions - Regional Specialist Staffing and Healthcare - allowing Impellam Group to now focus on its core GMS and STEM divisions, where the Impellam Board of Directors expects higher returns from attractive growth markets, significantly improved revenue visibility and improved conversions

Note to editors
Do you have any questions or comments in response to this press release? Please contact Bart van der Geest, spokesman at HeadFirst Group, at +31 (0)6 - 15 89 95 74 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl. Or Kirsty Tranter, global head of communications at Impellam Group, at kirstytranter@impellam.com.

Supplemental Information
This announcement is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be - and does not constitute - an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for securities, or a solicitation of a vote or approval in any jurisdiction pursuant to the acquisition described above or otherwise. This announcement does not constitute a prospectus or a document equivalent to a prospectus.

Copies of this announcement and any formal documentation relating to the Acquisition are not, and may not, be directly or indirectly transmitted or otherwise forwarded, disseminated or sent in or into or from any jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the laws of such jurisdiction, and persons receiving such documents (including custodians, nominees and trustees) may not transmit or otherwise forward, disseminate or send such documents in or into or from such jurisdiction.

It is abundantly clear which parties may crown themselves winners and which parties "modesty befits" after the last House of Representatives elections. The elections have caused a solid shift in the political landscape. If we take a look at PVV, VVD and NSC, what do these parties actually think about the labor market? ZiPconomy found out.

NSC is fairly outspoken and believes that the Borstlap Commission report should guide future labor market reforms. For example, NSC wants the dismissal law to be reformed and the sick pay continuation for SMEs to be shortened to one year. The VVD will certainly go along with this, but the PVV, like SP and GroenLinks/PvdA, is precisely not in favor of this. Also, NSC wants temporary work to be limited to 26 weeks, while VVD and PVV voted against this limit. Who will pour water on the wine?

Future of the zzp file

If we look at the plans regarding the zzp dossier, we immediately see a clear overlap: all three parties are not fans of the draft bill "Clarifying Assessment of Labor Relations and Legal Presumption. So what do they want?

PVV is not really outspoken on the zzp dossier with their statement "zzp'ers should not have unnecessary extra rules or obligations. VVD has the view that the assessment of the individual self-employed person should be central, for example by setting entrepreneurial criteria by law. NSC does not think that the person, but the job should be assessed. If it takes too long, for many hours in the week or is low paid, then that assignment should not be done by a self-employed person.

Migration policy as a point of discussion

Labor migration is also a hot topic in political The Hague. The three parties seem to agree that there should be "a brake on migration. But how and for which target groups exactly, there are still some differences.

PVV wants to introduce work permits for migrant workers within the EU, something that now only applies to migrant workers from outside the EU, and restrict study migration. NSC also wants a sharp restriction on the number of labor and knowledge migrants, but first wants to "investigate" how to get a better grip on this. The NSC wants to reduce the influx of expats, including by reducing their tax benefits.

VVD is firm in tone when it comes to asylum, but less outspoken when it comes to labor migration from within the EU, since labor migrants in a tight labor market are crucial to keeping a number of economic sectors running. She does believe that the requirements for non-EU migrant workers should be tightened and is in favor of encouraging and accelerating return.

How to move forward?

It is somewhat hypothetical and looking into a crystal ball, but should VVD and NSC eventually join Geert Wilders at the formation table, the differences regarding the labor market seem bridgeable. Topics such as "the democratic rule of law" and "military aid to Ukraine" will be higher on the agenda. In a country of minorities, forging coalitions and compromise, sooner or later you really will have to step over your own shadow.

Want to know more about the election results and impact on the labor market? Find the relevant ZiPtalk episode of ZiPconomy here.

ICT freelancers increasingly reluctant to be approached by recruiters

One in four employed ICT professionals has changed jobs and/or employers in the past 12 months. This while the ICT worker is by nature a latent job seeker, in other words: they are open to a different job, but do not actively search and apply themselves. Whereas the mobility of ICT professionals has been stable in recent years, it has strongly increased in the past year and loyalty to their own manager and/or employer has decreased. These are some of the dozens of striking results from large-scale research into the current labor market for ICT professionals by Intelligence Group and HeadFirst Group.

Growth in ICT workers mainly due to self-employed workers
The current number of nearly 600,000 ICT workers in the Netherlands will continue to grow to nearly 900,000 by 2030, making up 8.5 percent of the labor force. The demand for - and scarcity of - ICT workers remains very high. In 2023, the remarkably small growth in the supply of ICT workers is mainly due to the increase in the number of self-employed professionals. This grew from 76 thousand to 84 thousand. The group of self-employed ICT professionals continues to grow and is increasingly taking control of the labor market by ensuring that they get their assignments from their own network. The moment their current assignment ends, the next assignment from the network is already waiting for them.

Remarkably, there is a growing group of self-employed professionals within the ICT sector who are never approached for assignments. Meanwhile, this percentage has increased to 27.3 percent of the whole. An increase of no less than 550 percent in 3.5 years. "Many times the self-employed ICT worker consciously chooses to become unreachable to recruiters because they are spammed so much," said Geert-Jan Waasdorp, CEO Intelligence Group. "ICT workers are often the canary in the coal mine when it comes to behavioral changes on the candidate side of the labor market. Talent inaccessibility is a broader foreseeable development in the labor market in the coming years."

Focus on external mobility
By the third quarter of 2023, 24.6 percent of employed ICT workers had changed jobs in the previous 12 months (9.6 percent within their own organization and 15 percent to a new organization). These figures increased despite the fact that ICT workers are primarily latent job seekers. Their labor market activity last quarter was 6.7 percent , which is 70 percent lower than the average across the entire Dutch labor force. "ICT workers are thus latent job seekers and increasingly unavailable to recruiters, but they are currently moving remarkably more frequently in the labor market. How do you deal with that as an employer and client?", Marion van Happen, CEO at HeadFirst Group, asks herself. "That starts with good employer branding. In addition, build a community of potentially interesting employees and freelancers, start actively telling stories, so that ICTs become convinced of your mission and vision and they get a feel for what it is like to work for your organization. Only then will you entice them to make the step to you of their own accord or at some point to be receptive to being approached by a recruiter."