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Freelancers are choosing autonomy in large numbers. At the same time, long-term sickness absence among employees is rising. Perhaps we should therefore not only rethink how much we work, but above all where and how we work.

Imagine two Monday mornings.

In the first, an entrepreneur opens his laptop at 7:30 a.m. The phone is already ringing. An employee has a question, a client wants to change something and, meanwhile, there is still a proposal that really needs to go out today.

He is his own boss. But sometimes his calendar seems to think otherwise.

On the other side, an employee starts the day. Teams open. Outlook open. Calendar full. The first meeting at 9:00 a.m., the next one at 10:00 a.m. In between: messages, phone calls and notifications.

Different work situation. Same question:

how much freedom do we actually still experience in our work?

And it is exactly there that several recent developments suddenly seem to come together in a surprisingly meaningful way.

7 out of 10 freelancers do not want to return to salaried employment

Research by Knab among more than 2,000 self-employed entrepreneurs shows that 70% do not want to return to a salaried job. Even more interesting is why people choose entrepreneurship in the first place. Not because of the money.

73% mention greater autonomy and freedom as a reason for once becoming self-employed. 40% mention a better work-life balance. Among freelancers who previously worked in salaried employment, as many as 90% say they now experience more freedom. That says quite a lot.

Because while regulation, uncertainty and administration are certainly not becoming easier for self-employed professionals, freedom still appears to outweigh security.

Perhaps freedom in our work is not simply a nice employee benefit.

Perhaps it is a fundamental need.

Meanwhile, sickness absence is rising

On the other side of the labour market, we see a less positive development.

Sickness absence in the Netherlands reached 4.8% in June 2026. That is the highest level for the month of June in more than twenty years. Long-term absence plays a major role in this, with occupational health services clearly pointing to stress-related absence.

Across 2025, average sickness absence was 4.8%. Long-term absence due to stress-related complaints increased by 8% that year compared with the year before. That does not only cost energy.

It also literally costs organisations money. According to TNO , employer costs from continued wage payment during sickness absence days rose to €8.3 billion in 2023. Of that amount, €4.9 billion was related to psychosocial workload. More fruit at the office probably will not solve that.

High demands are not necessarily the problem

There is an interesting nuance in the figures. Working hard is not automatically unhealthy.

TNO specifically describes the combination of high job demands and low autonomy as problematic. In 2024, 16% of employees had such a stressful job. 42% of employees said they experienced little autonomy in their work.

And that aligns remarkably well with what self-employed professionals appear to value so much. Deciding for yourself. Planning for yourself. Choosing how you organise your work.

Or, put more simply: control.

Perhaps organisations therefore do not need to give employees less responsibility, but rather more influence over how they fulfil that responsibility.

Remote working is no longer an experiment

There is something else to add. Working remotely did not disappear when the lockdowns disappeared.

In 2025, 61% of Dutch employees had the option to work outside their employer’s location. That figure has remained virtually stable since 2022. So we have largely moved past the technology discussion. The laptop works. The cloud works. Teams works too, sometimes even a little too enthusiastically.

The much more interesting discussion for the coming years is therefore no longer:

“Can someone work somewhere else?” But: “Where does someone work best at this moment?”

And that is where it starts to get interesting for us.

Because recovery means more than sleeping well

A recent article in De Telegraaf referred to a theory that distinguishes seven different types of rest: physical, mental, emotional, social, creative, sensory and spiritual rest. Neurobiologist Koko Beers of the Dutch Brain Foundation mainly emphasises that recovery is about balance and that needs can differ per person and per moment.

That last point may be the most important one.

Because someone who is physically tired needs something different from someone who has not had an uninterrupted hour to think for three months. An entrepreneur stuck in daily operations needs something different from an employee who misses connection with their team.

And that is where a Workation changes from a holiday extra into a work tool

In our view, a good Workation therefore does not mean:

opening your laptop, putting a cocktail next to it and hoping inspiration will magically appear. If only it were that simple. 😉

It means consciously determining what someone needs to work and live with more energy, inspiration and focus.

At theWorkationers, we use our WLTD Method — Work-Life in Three Dimensions for this. Through Inspire, Enjoy and Grow, we explore what is needed at that moment and translate this into a personal Workation.

The destination actually comes after that. Not: “Where do you want to go?” But first: “What do you need?”

That difference may seem small. But it changes everything.

For entrepreneurs, that can mean finally stepping out of daily operations

Take an entrepreneur with a full order book, employees, clients, calculations and every day something that “just needs to be done quickly”.

Blocking a strategy week in your calendar at home sounds fantastic. Until the phone rings.

Working undisturbed on your new business plan at the office for two days?

Good luck with the first colleague walking in with: “Do you have a quick minute?” A Workation literally creates distance.

For example, you can spend four or five focused hours in the morning working on a calculation, strategy, investment plan or new concept, and use the rest of the day to move, explore, recover or simply think something through in peace.

And why should your partner have to stay at home for that?

For entrepreneurs in particular, we believe this is an interesting starting point.

While you work with focus for a few hours, your partner can follow their own programme. Afterwards, you have time together for a walk, lunch, sports, the beach, a special experience or simply nothing at all.

No choice between: business or private life. But consciously creating space for both.

Not another week off where you secretly keep answering emails. But a period in which work and life are allowed to consciously exist side by side.

For employers, there is an equally interesting opportunity

Companies can learn from this too. Not by immediately sending every employee with a busy week to Mallorca.

Although our sales department would obviously love that. 😉

But by thinking differently about workplace, autonomy and recovery. A Workation can, for example, become part of a broader approach to sustainable employability, good employer practice and personal development. Or for a bonus program that provides extra motivation for teams and employees. And especially for talent you want to both develop and retain.

Or as an employee benefit that shows flexibility in your organisation does not stop at one working-from-home day per week.

Not only stepping in when the battery is empty.

But thinking earlier about how to prevent someone from walking around on 6% for months. We help:

Workation Benefits Program
A distinctive employee benefit allowing staff to book a fully organized workation for up to 2–3 weeks a year, aligned with both personal and corporate goals. theWorkationers assists with the HR, financial, and tax structuring and manages the entire Workation program.

Workation Team Performance Program
A results-oriented program in which teams that achieve pre-agreed stretch targets are rewarded with a fully organized Workation. The program is grounded in personal, team, and corporate objectives. Here, too, theWorkationers provides support with the HR, financial, and tax structuring.

Interested in how this could work for your organization?

Contact us.