How freelancers in Germany can strengthen companies

1. The state of the freelance landscape in Germany
2. How companies benefit from freelancers?
3. Challenges in working with freelancers
4. Finding the right freelancers in Germany and worldwide – with freelancer platforms, it’s easy
5. Tackling the skills shortage with freelancers

Freelancing in Germany is booming. More and more companies are relying on the expertise of independent professionals to deliver projects efficiently and flexibly. Especially in times of a growing skills shortage, freelancers in Germany have become an indispensable resource for bringing specialised knowledge into businesses quickly and easily – whether in start-ups, medium-sized enterprises or large corporations.

In today’s digital economy, freelancers play a central role and are often far more than just short-term support. In many organisations, freelance resources are firmly integrated into planning, and independent professionals have become an important part of day-to-day operations over longer periods.

In this article, you’ll learn what makes freelancers so valuable to companies and how to find the right talent for your projects with the help of freelancer platforms.

The state of the freelance landscape in Germany

In 2022, around half of all self-employed people in Germany were working without any employees. These solo self-employed individuals pursue a wide range of activities. Many of them earn their main income as freelancers in a variety of fields – for example, as consultants, software developers or copywriters.

Those working as freelancers in Germany are self-reliant, sourcing their own clients and supporting them with their expertise. And this expertise is becoming increasingly valuable in light of the growing skills shortage across many sectors: Companies are facing the challenge of completing projects successfully while often lacking the necessary personnel resources. Start-ups in particular must strike a balance between hiring and training new employees and the need to deliver quick results. But medium-sized companies and large corporations also increasingly rely on external expertise, often on a short-term basis. Especially in the IT sector, where skilled professionals are scarce, companies are finding it increasingly difficult to operate without freelancers.

For a long time, freelancers in Germany were seen as anonymous service providers — but that perception has changed. This shift is largely due to the appeal of the freelance work model and the ongoing “war for talent”: Today, skilled freelancers can often choose their clients and workplaces almost freely, rather than being tied to a single employer in a permanent position.

How companies benefit from freelancers?

By working with freelancers, companies remain agile and competitive. Because: Freelancers are usually ready to start right away. In many cases, only a brief onboarding or detailed briefing is needed to get a project off the ground. This brings numerous advantages for businesses that rely on freelance support:

• Flexibility: Freelancers can be engaged on a project basis or at short notice. This allows companies to respond to specific requirements and peaks in workload without entering into long-term commitments.

• Access to specialised expertise: Freelancers often bring in-depth knowledge in specific areas such as web development, artificial intelligence or marketing – skills that may not always be available within a company. This enables businesses to implement specialised projects efficiently.

• Cost savings: Compared with permanent employees, hiring freelancers in Germany eliminates employer obligations such as social security contributions and paid leave. This makes them particularly cost-effective for time-limited or highly specialised tasks.

• Quick availability: Freelancers are often ready to start immediately, without the need for lengthy recruitment processes. This is especially valuable when projects need to be completed quickly or unexpected tasks arise.

• Global talent acquisition: Thanks to freelancer platforms such as Fiverr, companies have access to a global pool of skilled professionals. They are no longer limited to local talent and can bring in the best experts from across Germany and around the world for their projects. 

In today’s fast-paced digital economy, these advantages of working with freelancers in Germany can be crucial for many companies – particularly in dynamic and technology-driven industries.

Challenges in working with freelancers

Where there is light, there is also a little shadow. While working with freelancers in Germany offers many advantages for companies, there are also a few challenges businesses should keep in mind:

• Recruitment and selection: Finding the right freelancers can be time-consuming. Companies must ensure that candidates possess the necessary skills and reliability. Freelancer platforms can support this process by providing helpful insights and search features.

• Communication and project management: As freelancers often do not work on site, coordination can become more complex. Clear communication and well-structured project management are essential to avoid misunderstandings and meet deadlines – especially when working across different time zones and schedules.

• Effort and costs: It is not always easy to accurately estimate the actual effort required for a project in advance. Different pricing structures and billing models used by freelancers (e.g. hourly rates or fixed-price agreements) make clear arrangements necessary to prevent unexpected costs.

• Legal and tax aspects: Working with freelancers in Germany may require specific contracts to define legal parameters such as copyright, confidentiality and other regulatory requirements. Especially when engaging international freelancers, companies must also take into account tax regulations both domestically and abroad. Since freelancers often require access to internal company information or systems, protecting sensitive data and maintaining secure identity management are essential.

• Commitment and availability: Freelancers are not bound to a single company and may accept or decline other assignments at any time. This can make long-term planning for strategically important projects more difficult. As freelancers often work on multiple jobs simultaneously, priorities and availability should be clearly defined in advance to avoid bottlenecks.

When you are aware of the challenges of working with freelancers you can prepare accordingly and fully benefit from the many advantages that freelance work offers. One thing is clear: A healthy balance between in-house expertise and flexible freelance support is key to business success.

Finding the right freelancers in Germany and worldwide – with freelancer platforms, it’s easy

The development team is understaffed, the press releases won’t write themselves, and the new presentation design is long overdue? Fortunately, freelancers can provide support in these and many other areas. However, companies first need to know how to reach them. This can be done, for example, through traditional job postings on the company’s own career page – although freelancers would need to actively look for them … or more easily and effectively via freelancer platforms such as Fiverr.

fiverr on OMR Reviews

When companies need external expertise, freelancer platforms like Fiverr provide the ideal solution. Here, they can find freelancers in Germany and around the world and integrate them profitably into their projects. Fiverr offers, among other things:

• a diverse talent pool with access to professionals from across the globe and around 120,000 freelancers based in Germany. This ensures that every company can access the expertise it needs in more than 700 categories – from AI and web development to design.

• Skilled professionals are available for both short-term projects and complex tasks, delivering high-quality results efficiently and reliably.

• Each order is secured through SSL-protected payments, and funds are only released once the delivery has been approved. This guarantees greater security for both freelancers and companies alike. 

• Global and local collaboration, allowing businesses to decide whether they want to work with international talent or freelancers based in Germany. Language and location filters make it easy to refine searches.

• An intuitive search function and filtering options that enable sorting by ratings, experience and specific skills.

• 24/7 customer support, ensuring that questions or issues can be resolved at any time.

Through Fiverr, companies can also contact freelancers in advance to discuss key details such as pricing and timelines. In addition to a chat function, the freelancer platform also offers the option to connect via video calls, making it easier to communicate and get to know each other better.

For those seeking even more, Fiverr Pro gives businesses access to top-rated freelancers and valuable business tools. Fiverr Enterprise, on the other hand, provides larger companies with a comprehensive SaaS solution that enables efficient freelancer management and onboarding – including talent administration and project management.

 

Tackling the skills shortage with freelancers

More and more people are discovering the benefits of freelance work. Freelancer platforms like Fiverr make it easy for companies to tap into their expertise and move projects forward quickly and efficiently. They help counter the skills shortage across more than 700 fields, connecting businesses and independent professionals, and ensuring that freelancers in Germany and worldwide are seen as far more than anonymous service providers. This is particularly essential in today’s digital economy, where high work pace and dynamic developments are part of everyday business life.