The buoyant senior interims market

Georgina Stewart

Director-level interims have a positive outlook. Georgina Stewart explains

When the credit crunch hit the UK many senior executive roles were removed and replaced with lower paying positions that would deal with the same issues and meet the same deadlines. Unsurprisingly, the individuals filling these jobs tended to be less qualified.

As the UK begins to work its way out of the recession, more and more senior executive positions are being made available to the public.

Over half (56%) of 500 director-level interim managers polled by Marble Hill Partners said that businesses were employing interim senior managers, compared with 47% last year and 43% in 2011.

When there is an increase in the amount of contractors that are available or hired, there is usually an increase in the amount of permanent staff being hired. This idea is also applied to the increase in the number of interim senior managers that are being employed; as more permanent senior management positions may become available too.

It’s not just positions for interims that are increasing, however. A third of interim managers believed that their daily rate would increase within the next 12 months. This positive outlook compares with the fact that only one in four believed that they would see an increase in their rate of pay last year.

The individuals that were polled also said that due to the amount of pressure that has been placed on boardroom remuneration by the public, more senior executives would be likely to choose interim opportunities rather than permanent posts – only 37% of people polled said that this was a factor in 2013 compared with 28% of individuals in 2012.

It’s suspected that one of the main reasons as to why individuals capable of becoming senior managers decide to take opportunities where they are interim senior managers and executives due to the fact that they can take part in many different exciting opportunities, gain much more experience in a wide variety of environments as well as avoiding the issues that come with the politics and box ticking within the job.

Georgina Stewart is a team member at executive search and interim management company Marble Hill Partners