- Nick Elvin
Average daily pay rates for interims has risen by 11% over the past five years, according to a new survey.
The study of 17,000 interim managers, by recruiter Russam GMS, shows an increase from £638 in June 2014 to £651 this year, while the figure has gone from £579 five years ago.
However, the average pay rate for female interims of £567.25 a day is considerably less than that of their male colleagues who are paid £662.64.
Pay also varies considerably by sector, discipline and region. The best-paid interims specialise in leadership and sit on boards (£858), then come the general managers who are paid £827, then interim auditors at £785, closely followed by IT specialists who command £778 a day.
The top three sectors for pay are energy (£945), financial services (£804) and IT (£754).
Bucking other economic trends, those working in central England are getting higher rates than those working in London and the South – £649 a day compared to £612. Interims who work overseas can command an average of £746 a day.
The survey also showed that change management, restructuring and turnaround projects are the top three reasons interim managers are being hired by businesses.
Forty-six per cent of all interims were recruited to run change and transformation projects, 17% were hired for their specialist skills and 7% to fill employment gaps – the more traditional use of interims.
Demand for interims has risen in recent months, with 48% on assignment, up from 45% in June last year and nearly returning to the pre-recession level of 2007, when 50% were on assignment.
Financial services firms, healthcare organisations and manufacturers are the top three interim employers, and interim project managers are getting the most work, with a quarter of them on assignment, followed by finance specialists (14%) and general managers (12%).
The research also highlighted that interims in their 50s represent half of those on assignment; followed by interims in their 60s, who are 29% of the cohort and then interims in their 40s who make up 20% of the interim executives. There were very few interims on assignment in their 20s, 30s or 70s.
Many of the respondents consider themselves ‘career interims’, with 35% stating they wouldn’t take a permanent job and 20% stating they would take a permanent job, only if it was tempting enough.
Jason Atkinson, managing director of Russam GMS said: “Many organisations are in a state of flux, particularly in sectors like financial services where they are grappling with new regulation and compliance, and working out how to maximise growth opportunities.”
“Interims offer organisations immediacy, experience and flexibility, and a low risk, affordable and high value way of delivering change and transformation.”