The report Flexibilidad en el trabajo carried out by Randstad reveals the self-employment shares in the different European countries. The countries which registered the highest rates of self-employed in 2014 were Italy, Portugal and Spain. In particular Italy heads this list with a share of 22,9 percent, followed by Portugal with 18,8 percent while Spain and Ireland have the same share of the 17 percent.
In the case of Spain, the percentage has increased between 2008 and 2014 as the initial share was 16,4 percent. However, the lowest-rate countries are Germany with 10,7 percent; Sweden and Denmark, both with a percentage of 10 percent; and finally Norway with a rate of the 7,3 percent.
Self-employment, a way out for unemployed people
This new report also confirms that highest unemployment rate countries registered the highest shares of self-employment. This conclusion is based on OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) reports and on some shares from 2013. Therefore, countries with elevated unemployment rates (as Spain and Greece) or countries whose job markets have staggered (as Italy, Portugal and Ireland) have a great significance in terms of self-employment in Europe.
The European Association of Perfume and Cosmetic Products (known in Spanish as APCE) supports entrepreneurship in the perfume and cosmetic industry. Its members have created many jobs through self-employment over the past few years and self-employment has become a great opportunity for those salaried employees who lost their job.