According to a thesis by Christoph Becker of the University of Pforzheim, working in cooperation with the Freelancing.hk, it emerged that the number of self-employed workers continues to steadily rise. In 1992 only about half a million workers were self-employed whereas by 2007, this number doubled to just under one million. Within the group of self-employed the number of freelance freelancers has greatly increased. A good example of the increased demand is the IT industry where according to Becker in February 2007 some 20,000 positions were not able to be filled or were filled after a considerable delay. Freelancers therefore filled the gap. Researchers, such as Michael Horx, looking at future employment patterns, assume that the labour market is continuing to move in the direction of the flexible workforce and thus in the direction of independence freelancers. In the Spiegel interview, he said: "Presumably, if this trend continues, by the year 2050 30/40 percent of all workers will self-employed." This trend is also supported by taxation trend. For example, the taxes for self employed have decreased 6% since the early 90’s whereas full time employees have only received a 3% reduction. In Germany, full time employees pay an average of 26% of their income in tax. The self-employed on the other hand are paying an average of 15% on their total income.