Businesses Hiring Interim Managers for Longer than ever before

UK businesses are hiring more interim managers and for longer placements than ever before as a result of the strengthening senior management jobs market, says Interim Partners, the leading provider of interim managers.

According to the Ipsos MORI research:* •the average length of an interim assignment reached an all-time high of nearly six months (177 days) in the first quarter, up 30% from the same period last year when it was 136 days. •the number of new assignments for interims also jumped 13% from Q4 2010 to Q1 2011.

Interim executives are managers or other senior executives, usually just below board-level, who are recruited on a short term basis. Interim managers earn as much as £1,000-£2,000 per day.

Doug Baird, Managing Director of Interim Partners, comments: “We’ve seen a really strong pick-up in demand, as companies have started to be more confident in their hiring at senior manager and director level. They are hiring more interims – and hiring them for longer.”

“Demand is rising fastest in the City, where financial institutions that de-layered and chopped out a whole level of senior management in the recession now need experienced managers to deliver strategic change programmes or just to grow.”

The research found that in the private sector, over a third of placements (36%) were for banking and finance roles, with the next biggest sector – IT and telecommunications – accounting for 12% of all private sector placements.

Shortage of suitable permanent staff leading to longer interim placements

Says Doug Baird: “Businesses are increasingly rolling over the contract with their interim manager because they don’t have qualified senior permanent staff to use instead. Some of our interims are staying with a business and overseeing two or three extra projects for them. It’s a ringing endorsement for how effective interim managers are.”

“Businesses are being smart about their hiring: if the management skill set and experience is not available on the permanent recruitment market, they are using interims instead. Many businesses tell us that they can’t find sufficiently qualified permanent staff at the moment.”

• Research by Ipsos MORI for the Interim Management Association