Kirill Chernovol, Researcher at the Gaidar Institute's International Best Practices Analysis Department, commented for RBC on the faster growth in freelancers' incomes compared to the salaries of full-time employees.
According to the expert, this trend is largely explained by the flexibility of pricing in the market for independent specialists. "The income of self-employed people can grow faster because their remuneration is more flexible: the price of services can be adjusted for inflation and the shortage of rare skills. Therefore, the growth in average monthly income does not in itself prove an increase in demand in 2025; we could talk about this if there were data on the growth in the number of orders," explained Kirill Chernovol.
He also noted that the main reason for the attractiveness of the self-employed to businesses is significant savings. “When working with self-employed people, a company usually does not withhold personal income tax and does not pay contributions to pension, medical, and social insurance, and there are no mandatory vacation, sick leave, and workplace costs. Such employer costs generally amount to about 30% of salaries,” said the expert.
Predicting further dynamics, Kirill Chernovol suggested that the gap in growth rates may persist only in certain segments. “It is more likely that in ‘shortage’ professions, where demand for labor far exceeds supply, income growth rates will be higher, while in others they will be closer to the growth rates of salaries in regular employment,” he concluded.