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This paper presents a middle-term assessment (2021–2025) of the Delphi survey The Future of Self-Employment: Professional Development, Representation and Support Policies, originally designed with a ten-year forecasting horizon. The interim analysis is based on a new consultation involving a panel of experts in labour markets, continuing training and support policies for the self-employed drawn from academia, professional associations and trade unions. The aim is to evaluate the consistency between the trajectories anticipated in 2021 and the dynamics observed in the first half of the decade, with particular attention to the role of continuing training in fostering sustainable autonomy and inclusive democracy.

The 2021 Delphi survey identified three structural trends shaping the evolution of self-employment: first, the growing polarisation between highly qualified forms of professional autonomy and structurally vulnerable self-employment; second, the expansion of hybrid work arrangements situated in a “grey area” between autonomy and subordination; and third, the increasing relevance of continuing training and welfare reform in supporting sustainable professional trajectories.

Recent empirical evidence confirms the relevance of these dynamics. Studies on the European labour market highlight the persistent heterogeneity of self-employment and the coexistence of highly skilled professionals capable of investing in innovation and lifelong learning alongside a wider segment exposed to income instability, weak bargaining power and limited access to social protection (Eurofound, 2024; OECD, 2025). At the same time, the diffusion of hybrid configurations has become increasingly visible. The adoption of the ICSE-18 international classification provides a useful framework for identifying formally self-employed workers who experience economic dependence and reduced organisational autonomy, enabling better analytical clarity and international comparability (ILO, 2023).

Within this context, continuing training emerges as a crucial dividing line between qualified autonomy and structural vulnerability. Access to lifelong learning opportunities remains unevenly distributed among the self-employed and strongly influenced by sectoral and income inequalities (Barricelli & Carolla, 2023). Consequently, continuing training represents a key lever not only for supporting professional resilience in the context of digital and ecological transitions but also for strengthening equal opportunities for economic participation and social citizenship.

Finally, the paper reflects on the implications of these developments for welfare and labour policies. Despite recent European initiatives aimed at extending social protection to non-standard workers, significant gaps persist in the coverage of self-employed workers. The middle-term consultation therefore provides an opportunity to reassess future trajectories of self-employment and to explore policy directions capable of integrating continuing training, adaptive welfare systems and new forms of representation.

Self-employment thus emerges as a strategic arena in which lifelong learning, job quality and social citizenship increasingly intersect.