Recent graduates: why wage portage is becoming more and more attractive

Key takeaways:

• Wage portage enables recent graduates to start as freelancers while maintaining the security of employee status.
• It offers a valuable first professional experience without creating a company.
• In high-demand sectors such as IT, wage portage can offer higher income and more freedom than an ESN (IT services company).

Would you like to know more about wage portage for recent graduates? After finishing your studies, many aspire to create their own business. However, you might hold back due to the lack of security associated with being self-employed. That's where wage portage becomes the solution for testing your entrepreneurial skills while still enjoying the benefits of being an employee. In this article, Weepo explains the advantages of starting wage portage as a recent graduate to launch your freelance activity with peace of mind.

How does wage portage work?

Wage portage relies on a tripartite relationship between an independent consultant, an umbrella company, and a client company. The independent consultant is linked to the umbrella company by an employment contract but remains fully autonomous in managing their activity. The umbrella company takes care of the consultant's social protection as well as all their accounting and administrative management, while allowing them to benefit from other services (training, network, support, etc.). The independent consultant can thus focus on their core business. In exchange, a part of the turnover is paid to the company as management fees.

💡Good to know: with Weepo, our management fees are set at 3%.

Gain a significant first experience

After graduation, there are often few job opportunities and companies struggle to hire. This is where wage portage becomes an interesting solution for companies wishing to test your skills as a recent graduate. As for you, you have the opportunity to take your first step into working life. Wage portage therefore allows you to benefit from a first professional experience to highlight on your CV.

Test your business idea without creating a company

Wage portage presents a great opportunity to test your knowledge and entrepreneurial ideas without creating a formal company. Indeed, creating your own business right after graduating can sometimes lead to failure due to lack of experience. With wage portage, you can test your business idea without taking any risk and avoid all the tedious steps involved in seeking funding and registering a company. As an employee under wage portage, you are immediately operational.

Benefit from the support of an umbrella company

When you start as a freelancer right after school, you're entirely on your own: no structure, prospecting alone... which can be difficult at first and hinder your success. By working with an umbrella company, you are no longer alone and can benefit from its support. As explained before, it handles all your administrative management and supports you in developing your activity thanks to networking with experienced consultants, job opportunities, training sessions, etc. It can also provide a simulator to estimate your salary and help you set your rates.

💡Good to know: with Weepo, you can take advantage of our zero hidden fees simulator for total transparency about your income.

Keep autonomy while enjoying employee status

Halfway between being employed and self-employed, wage portage gives you strong autonomy in running your business while benefiting from employee status advantages, such as:

• Solid social protection;
• A supplementary pension;
• A provident scheme;
• Unemployment benefits, etc.

With wage portage, you can combine a job with unemployment benefits for short-term projects, as long as the sum of your income and benefits does not exceed your previous gross reference salary.

Wage portage: a solution for high-pressure markets

As a recent graduate, you are often contacted by ESNs (IT service companies) right after graduation. Although this option offers many advantages, there are some limitations to consider:

For the same daily rate, a consultant in an ESN earns less than an employee under wage portage. Wage portage is therefore a better alternative in high-demand markets as it offers a higher starting salary and more freedom in choosing assignments. To find out more, check our article wage portage vs ESN.

💡Good to know: for example, the umbrella company Weepo, specialized in tech jobs, allows you to access a wide range of IT assignments according to your professional aspirations.

What are the requirements to access wage portage as a recent graduate?

To work under wage portage as a recent graduate, you must meet the following requirements:

• Have a qualification level corresponding to the targeted projects;
• Be autonomous enough to manage your own business development;
• Engage in a non-regulated activity;
• Set assignment terms in accordance with the wage portage collective agreement;
• Have an annual gross salary at least equal to 75% of the Social Security ceiling;
• Sign a wage portage agreement to enter a permanent or fixed-term contract with an umbrella company.

💡Good to know: if you choose the umbrella company Weepo, you can get started in just 2 hours.

Recent graduates: why choose wage portage? In summary

You now know everything about wage portage for recent graduates. Here are the main points to remember:

1. Wage portage allows you to gain a significant first experience to highlight to future employers.
2. You can test your business idea without starting a company and without taking any risk.
3. Working with an umbrella company, you benefit from support both administratively and for business development.
4. As an employee under wage portage, you remain autonomous in managing your activity while enjoying the security of employee status.
5. Wage portage offers you a higher salary than with an ESN and gives you more freedom in choosing assignments.

For more information, you can check our article on this topic: “wage portage: a secure solution for freelancers”.