£1k a day interim reflects shallow public sector talent pool
2 July 2013
A surge in interim executive recruitment in the public sector, accompanied by a sharp rise in day rates, reflects the shallowness of the public sector talent pool, says a senior executive at interim management provider Interim Partners.
Tue, 2 Jul 2013A surge in interim executive recruitment in the public sector, accompanied by a sharp rise in day rates, reflects the shallowness of the public sector talent pool, says a senior executive at interim management provider Interim Partners.
Interim Partners says that 43% of all interim assignments were in the public sector in the first three months of 2013, up from 28% in the Q4 2012. This has led to an increase in day rates paid by central government from £704 to £839.
David Hunter, head of central & local government at the company, says government departments “are becoming keener to utilise them [interims] to ensure that projects are driven to successful completion swiftly so that they have a full impact before the next General Election, which is due in May 2015”.
He tells Recruiter that day rates of up to £1k are good value for money. “If there was an internal solution they would take it, so this is as much a comment on the shallowness of the talent pool in terms of the public sector’s ability to deal with what is coming,” says Hunter.
Interim recruiters recently warned that a crackdown on government staff working ‘off payroll’ could lead to interims withdrawing from working in the public sector.
Earlier this year, the Cabinet Office published a report ‘Meeting the Challenge of Change’, which said that that government departments would need to buy in talent in the short term.
Two high-profile projects the government has been accelerating using interim managers are a ‘digital transformation’ at UK Border Agency and a £500m change programme for 125 prisons and 35 probation trusts.
Interim Partners says that 43% of all interim assignments were in the public sector in the first three months of 2013, up from 28% in the Q4 2012. This has led to an increase in day rates paid by central government from £704 to £839.
David Hunter, head of central & local government at the company, says government departments “are becoming keener to utilise them [interims] to ensure that projects are driven to successful completion swiftly so that they have a full impact before the next General Election, which is due in May 2015”.
He tells Recruiter that day rates of up to £1k are good value for money. “If there was an internal solution they would take it, so this is as much a comment on the shallowness of the talent pool in terms of the public sector’s ability to deal with what is coming,” says Hunter.
Interim recruiters recently warned that a crackdown on government staff working ‘off payroll’ could lead to interims withdrawing from working in the public sector.
Earlier this year, the Cabinet Office published a report ‘Meeting the Challenge of Change’, which said that that government departments would need to buy in talent in the short term.
Two high-profile projects the government has been accelerating using interim managers are a ‘digital transformation’ at UK Border Agency and a £500m change programme for 125 prisons and 35 probation trusts.
- Click for more interim management recruitment news from recruiter.co.uk
