Which is very strange since in Austria as a freelancer you are still required to pay into all the same social systems as a FTE right? Public pension, health insurance etc. In Germany you have the same "Scheinselbstaendigkeit" issue but it's a bit more understandable why the authorities care, considering that as a freelancer you aren't paying into the public pension system.
Austria in general is very unfriendly to small businesses. The salaries are also heavily taxed so employees are extra expensive.
All of the hiring attempts are just companies trying to pay you as little as possible and then contract your work to rich companies or government. But to me it sounds most Europe is like this.
They do offer a 12% discount if you do not have any expenses (which you can barely have as a programmer) so eventually you can earn a bit more than being employed.
