Trend reversal for IT freelancers: women get paid nine percent more than men
Women are often paid less than their male colleagues. This is different for female IT freelancers - they now earn more money than men.
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As freelancers in IT, women receive an hourly rate around nine percent higher than their male colleagues. This is the result of a study by the freelance.de placement portal. According to the survey, female freelancers earn an hourly rate of 109 euros, while men earn 100 euros per hour. Meanwhile, the average hourly rate for IT freelancers is 103 euros. Outside of IT, the gender ratio is reversed, with male freelancers earning an average of around 15 percent more per hour than women. The trend has also changed compared to the previous year. In 2024, the hourly rate for men was just under two percent higher than for women.
Despite the order situation: IT freelancers are financially satisfied
Over the past year, the hourly rate rose for around 27% of IT freelancers, while 15% reported a decline in income. For the remaining 58 percent, there was no change in pay. Overall, IT freelancers rate their financial situation as positive. Around 20% say they are very satisfied, 35% are "fairly satisfied". In contrast, only 21% are dissatisfied overall, while 41% of the IT freelancers surveyed received fewer orders than expected in 2024. The same proportion stated that the order situation was as expected. The rest felt that the number of orders was on target.
Looking at the current year, around 15% of IT freelancers expect a good order situation, compared to 21% in 2024. In contrast, around 63% rate the project situation as difficult this year, over 30% more than in the previous year. According to a study by Freelancermap, IT freelancers are also currently concerned about the declining number of orders. IT freelancers predominantly identified project acquisition as the biggest challenge. The legal situation, for example in the area of bogus self-employment, price dumping, the tax burden and dependence on the economic situation also pose challenges.
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AI strengthens freelancers, inflation problematic
Across all sectors, 47% of respondents see a positive impact of automation and artificial intelligence on their work, while around a quarter are critical. Respondents also tend to rate flexible working hours and locations positively. Inflation is particularly problematic for freelancers. Almost two thirds of freelancers see a negative impact on their job. They are also concerned about regulations and legal changes as well as international competition. Two out of three freelancers feel inadequately supported by politicians.
For the study, the authors surveyed around 2,800 German freelancers on hourly rates, project acquisition, dealing with artificial intelligence and the internationalization of the world of work. They come from various sectors, predominantly IT, engineering, communication and consulting. A recent survey by the Federal Statistical Office showed that in 2024, women earned an average of 16% less than men in the IT sector as a whole. This means that the gender pay gap has shrunk by around two percentage points compared to the previous year.
(sfe)
