> In Germany contracts are more sparse and I don't think it's easy to pull off a full time contracting there. The rates are also quite a bit lower (at least from emails I get from time to time about contracts in Netherlands & Germany) so there's that as well.
A rule of thumb in Germany: If you earn double the amount as a contractor as you would as an employee this is about the same standard of living. In other words: If you don't really earn a lot more as a contractor than as an employee, it is not worth the hazzle.
Another problem for contracting are the laws concerning Scheinselbständigkeit (fictitious self-employment) - cf. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheinselbst%C3%A4ndigkeit - which make it really difficult for companies to contract someone for a longer time.
Yes there have been changes like that in UK as well (IR35) aimed at making it difficult for companies to keep hiring contractors for a longer time.
First problem with that was that public sector IT in the UK depends on contractors so they have shot themselves in the foot (already many public agencies started relaxing the rules and working around IR35 to be able to hire anybody).
Also most contractors usually change contract every 6-12 months so it's not a problem. You don't work at a single company for longer than that (1 year 11 months is maximum, after that you get in trouble because of IR35).
> A rule of thumb in Germany: If you earn double the amount as a contractor as you would as an employee this is about the same standard of living
Well what if it is 3 or 4 or even 5 times more. With top market contracts the rates can be really good. If a company urgently needs to hire somebody skilled to come in and do some firefighting you can negotiate a very high daily rate for 6 months contract.
Also keep in mind you pay lower taxes as contractor as most of your income is via dividends. And you can also expense a lot of things you buy if it can be justified as cost of running business.
A rule of thumb in Germany: If you earn double the amount as a contractor as you would as an employee this is about the same standard of living. In other words: If you don't really earn a lot more as a contractor than as an employee, it is not worth the hazzle.
Another problem for contracting are the laws concerning Scheinselbständigkeit (fictitious self-employment) - cf. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheinselbst%C3%A4ndigkeit - which make it really difficult for companies to contract someone for a longer time.