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Thinking back to this time last year, I’m reminded of the cautious optimism we had for 2024 and hope for a much improved market which, with the best will in the world, didn’t materialise. This year has seen fewer opportunities coming to market against a backdrop of even greater competition amongst candidates. In uncertain times it’s normal for the interim market to remain buoyant and even grow. But the interim space hasn’t reacted quite as strongly, and many interim consultants have found 2024 the most challenging market they’ve ever navigated.
So, how bad has it been, and what are some of the trends we’ve seen along the way?
Short-term support
In 2024, many organisations leveraged contract and project-based roles to adapt to economic uncertainties and fluctuating workloads and there was a marked increase in very short-term contracts being offered. These types of engagements enabled companies to bring resource in quickly but with far greater flexibility over their level of commitment. Interims have been required to be more adaptable than ever – work has often been operational in nature but with the need to pick up more responsibilities as they’ve arisen, once in contract.
Flexible working remains strong
Despite many businesses’ desires to return to the office, flexibility remains readily available to Interims. We rarely see Interims required to be in the office, and in situations where we’ve recruited both interim and permanent roles simultaneously for the same organisation, the permanent candidate will need to adhere to a set hybrid working pattern. Not so for the Interim! A sign of the increased understanding of how interims operate, or a polarising approach to hiring?
A shift in emphasis around ‘talent’
Interim HR Business Partner/HR Director opportunities have kept us busy this year. For the first 8-9 months, senior talent acquisition and broader talent management, learning, and leadership opportunities were scarce. In smaller organisations, we have observed that Talent Acquisition has been stripped back to operational TA partners, or even been absorbed into the roles of regional HR Managers/Business Partners. Happily, however, there has been a significant uptick in the last few months in the talent management and leadership development space. Our recent Tucker Stone survey mirrored this experience, with 70% of leaders saying that leadership development is a key priority, but they face challenges around lack of budget and a significant resistance to change.
So where is the work?
As inflation stabilises, certain sectors such as technology, manufacturing, and private equity are experiencing higher demand for interim HR professionals. Private equity in particular had an extremely quiet first half of the year but, as confidence has grown in the latter half, so has the demand for senior HR consultants to support with pre-deal diagnostic work. We have also been engaged to work with newly appointed CEOs to build strategic people plans to support growth/business objectives.
Next steps
Don’t be fooled, Interims, there is still opportunity in the market, but the competition is fierce. We’re privileged to partner with some wonderful organisations and have fostered amazing relationships (over more years than we’d care to admit!) but our advice is to also stay connected and nurture your own network of former colleagues and stakeholders. In this more stringent marketplace, all your relationships are valuable.
Mark Ladds
Interim Partner
mark.ladds@tuckerstone.com
