The public sector continued to employ by far the greatest proportion of interim managers last year, according to new research.
Government bodies used 20% of the estimated 7,000 interim managers in the UK, the study by interim management consultancy Praxis reveals.
This easily outstrips than the next busiest sector for interims, financial services, which used 13% of the total.
But it is a drop from last year’s figure, which showed the public sector using one in three (35%) interim managers in the market.
The research also found that the number of HR departments taking on interims has risen from 10% in 2004 to 17% in 2005.
Only finance departments employ a greater proportion of interims, at 24%.
Interims are commanding ever higher salaries, with the average daily wage up nearly £100 to £680 in 2005, the research found.
The highest recorded pay for a day’s work was £3,000.
The highest paying sectors include telecoms, finance and pharmaceuticals, while the lowest paying were public sector, manufacturing and automotive.
