Interim Tailwinds
Sometimes I can't contain my emotions. Especially when it comes to talking about all things Interim. My excitement in conversation generally oozes industry optimism, which can cause people to look at me kind of funny sometimes, especially during times like this where everyone is questioning what's going on with the economy and the labor markets. Or, more likely, I'm looked at with skepticism. It's a crappy labor market. Everything in the economy is unsettled right now. Companies are laying off. They don't appear to be hiring at the pace they've hired in the past. "Mark, why are you so excited? You're not being genuine and truthful. There are considerable headwinds out there right now."
No, there aren't. Conversely, there are considerable tailwinds out there right now for Interim in particular and there is no sign of slowdown for the the next 3-5 years. Things are just getting heated up for Interim, especially in the U.S. I am actually being super genuine in my mission to educate everyone and anyone about one big fact: the traditional workforce is rapidly changing. It's being flipped on it's head a bit actually, and that alone is the reason for great excitement! Disruption is good.
The days of a company exclusively managing their workforce through internal hiring are over. Please, someone, tell me, how exactly are they going to do that (i.e., hire and access talent up and down the line they way they always have), particularly in the face of the lowest recorded unemployment level that anybody reading this have ever seen and also an incredible global worker shortage that is predicted by PwC to reach 85 million people over the next several years? Read that again–that is the size of Germany!
Very often, in order to manage their workforces, companies are now accessing dedicated and experienced Interim talent to plug in and help get things done, especially with traditional perm hiring being so challenging right now. Companies have realized: 1.) something has to give in terms of the real labor shortage that will continue to affect everyone for years, and simultaneously watching the Interim talent base continue to explode into the millions as people really enjoy this alternative means of employment, and 2.) they are starting to figure out that not all positions they desire to fill have to be performed on a full-time basis, which has typically always been the case. Smart and strategic companies have figured out that some specific duties and responsibilities of positions can be performed over a few months at a time and there's no real need to fill the seat on a permanent basis year round. Ah, cost savings in comparison to having the full-time FTE (that you can't readily find quickly anyway).
And what's permanent now anyways? In the same PwC report which projects the massive worker shortage, they also predict that 24% of all U.S. employees will change jobs in 2024. Read that again: 24%!!! Again, same question as above, how are companies going to deal with that sort of continuing workforce change thrust upon them with so much, what, weekly, employee turnover?
It's go time for Interim. The core Interim business model was purposely constructed to counter attack these challenging market forces. Seen this coming for a long time. Only took a pandemic to kick it into high gear.
