The number of workers on flexible contracts, currently at one in four, is expected to jump to one in three or one-third of the total working population by 2020.

According to research by the TNO institute among 900 companies, the number of people employed as freelancers, piece workers and temporary staff will increase as the number of permanent contracts shrinks.

The largest contraction is already taking place in healthcare and finance. Banks and insurance companies, which traditonally had a long-term relationship with staff, are economising by employing more of the self-employed.

The hospitality sector currently has the largest percentage of flexible workers, 60%. But TNO says this is likely to be the maximum number, the Nos reports.

‘The financial crisis is driving the change,’ TNO’s Paulien Bongers told the Nos. ‘But many successful companies continue to make their workforce more flexible.’