Last month the Hightekers community crossed an internal milestone: more freelancers joined in the past quarter than in any previous quarter in the company's history. Growth on its own is not news — what it signals about the state of independent work in Europe is.
Why this matters
The people joining this quarter are different from the people who joined two years ago. More of them come from senior engineering and product roles. More of them are leaving permanent positions at mid-sized European tech companies rather than graduating from another contractor platform. And more of them work across multiple countries during a single engagement.
What's new
- Quarterly new-joiner volume up 42% vs. the same quarter last year
- Senior-level (8+ years experience) share climbing steadily
- Multi-country engagements now represent 31% of active assignments
- Freelancer NPS has held above 70 for four consecutive quarters
What's next
We are investing the growth back into the experience: more country leads, deeper tax-optimisation tooling for specific markets, and a refreshed dashboard that our product team will share more about soon.





