Being contractor in Germany one still pays the social contributions the same as a person on employment contract, it's hardly the lightweight variant. Contractor in large business in Germany is at the complete end of the development chain (hourly rates 30-80 EUR/h). Have some super old system in obscure technology/stack? Outsource it to PL/CZ/RO/UK. The super high earning rockstar contractors are some unicorns I'm yet to meet in my life.

Independent IT contractors in Germany don't have to put any money in a retirement fund, but hopefully they do, plus they pay 100% of their own health insurance, IT equipment (sometimes), insurance for their business (occasionally required)... A contractor making 10,000 a month is not comparable to an employee making 120,000 a year, probably closer to 90,000? I didn't mean to imply that it's a lightweight model, it just shifts the burden to the contractor.

Thankfully 80 EUR/h is not the upper limit if you can cut out the middleman. Speaking of which, I've heard third-hand horror stories of Polish SAP contractors where the middleman(!) made 65 EUR/h, which was probably more than half of the client paid - ouch.

> Thankfully 80 EUR/h is not the upper limit if you can cut out the middleman.

Yup, I know some guys contracting in Germany at 100 EUR/h. I myself received an offer (not in Germany, but in neighbouring country) at 120 EUR/h. The EU contracting market looks pretty healthy to me.

Isn't health insurance, like, 100-200 month ??? You all acting like it's a big deal. (nl stats, student DE pays 80/month)

I'm probably overpaying because I stayed in a public (not private) health insurance plan, but I pay about 800€ a month, so close to 10k a year.

Probably 250/month for health insurance plus 20% pension contribution and few unemployment benefits.

Programmers don't need unemployment benefits. You can always find a job. Maybe unable-to-work (like accidents etc) insurance.

Sounds like you’ve never experienced a tech downturn yet. Having been through two (and there are folks on this forum who have been through more) I can tell you with great certainty that you are wrong. I have been close to broke twice and am eternally grateful for what little safety net actually exists in the US.

I always smile hearing this arrogant "programmers don't need unemployment benefits" or "programmers will always find a job". Not even tech downturn is necessary, just relocate (e.g. family reasons) to a different location where this profession is not appreciated, neither well rewarded.

.. so.. unemployment benefits will keep you forever when "profession is not appreciated" or you'll convert to a beekeeper or some other job ?

Unemployment benefits, as I know, are temporary. You'll face the real-world in 2-3 years when it ends.

> You'll face the real-world in 2-3 years when it ends.

Just enough to catch up with nuances between different Angular versions and experiment with all cool newest React stacks... or screw it... pulls out a manual on constructing beehives.

I would agree with you, but I lived through the dot bomb / 9-11. There are times when companies, collectively, decide to hold off on hiring for a few quarters while doing massive layoffs. Thats when the market gets flooded.

It's hard to imagine today, but it sure did happen.

> Programmers don't need unemployment benefits.

That's what the person at the (un)employment office said once to me. If you know how to count, count on yourself because most of the insurance contributions simply fall into a black hole.

"Assuming good programmers + assuming you have certain logical thinking skills outside of programming, like, say, don't live paycheck-to-paycheck and credit-lifestyle".. I just stay out of work until I find a better one with my savings. Worst case I find shitty work until better work.