Almost 5.9 million employed people belong to the liberal professions: Just under 1.5 million self-employed freelancers employ more than four and a half million people in their mostly small teams. Together, they generate more than one in ten euros, making them an important economic sector as well as a social asset.

This work, whether in the medical, consulting, planning, technical or artistic fields, is characterized by small teams that serve people and, above all, by more encounters and communication than in any other sector of the economy. The liberal professions are existential for the provision of public services, medical, legal, technical. But they are also the key to the transformation and further development of the economy and society.

In addition, the liberal professions have a high integration power, as shown by the ever-increasing proportion of trainees with foreign roots, now almost 19.5 percent, and other indicators.

Another trend within the liberal professions is freelance self-employment among female founders. 54.9 percent of founders in the liberal professions are female - a figure that is expected to remain stable and continue to rise thanks to initiatives such as the "Aktionsplan: More Female Entrepreneurs for SMEs." The BFB is participating to realize this "Aktionsplan" with various measures in cooperation with federal ministries, other associations, networks and scientific institutes, based on the initiative of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection.

However, the shortage of skilled workers is having an increasingly serious impact here as well: Currently, the liberal professions lack around 46,000 trainees, 236,000 skilled workers and 60,000 freelancers in their teams, according to the BFB's Skilled Workers Study.

The BFB now offers a job portal with job offers within the liberal profession in collaboration with the Federal association of German management consultants (BDU), one of the member organizations of the BFB. This job portal represents advantages for both sides -  job opportunities for job seekers and a contribution against the lack of specialists within the liberal professions.

The portal is aimed equally at young people looking for an internship or training, as well as those already experienced in the liberal professions who can choose between offers for a regular part-time or full-time job or an internship.