Firms are increasingly looking to interim executives to deal with the extra workload caused by hiring freezes, according to providers of interim executives Interim Partners.
 
Interim Partners says that some recruitment freezes have been in place for almost two years, adding that unlike less restrictive headcount freezes, hiring freezes do not allow firms to replace senior staff when they retire or move on.
 
Doug Baird, managing director of Interim Partners, says: “Although corporates are now much more confident about the future they still live in fear of a ‘W’ shaped recovery. They want to keep as much flexibility in their senior management ranks as possible. For many companies, that means using an interim executive and not hiring a full-time senior employee even to replace a departing director.
 
“Traditionally gap management was to cover for maternity leave or whilst a company recruited to replace a departed senior executive. Increasingly gap management is about covering vital roles until that undetermined time when a company feels comfortable enough to suspend its hiring freeze.”