Recent findings released by Oasis HR, specialist HR recruitment consultancy, highlight a dramatic surge in the volume of mid-to-senior level interim HR opportunities over an 18 month period.

The statistics reveal a significant increase of 43 percent for all interim HR requisitions and come at a time where the Guardian reports a 6.6 percent reduction in UK unemployment; the lowest it’s been since early 2009. Oasis HR’s findings are reflective of the first six months of 2013 vs. 2014 (January – June) and also report that despite the impressive uplift in interim HR assignments, permanent opportunities have remained steady and only evidence a 1.2 percent increase across the same period.

[body]Further notable findings reveal:A 300 percent increase in interim business transformation and change roles; A 125 percent increase in interim resourcing and recruitment focused roles; A 25 percent reduction in Oasis HR’s ‘time to fill’ across all interim hiring activity; most likely a reflection of increased client urgency and the quickening pace of the market. Whilst a sizable increase for interim recruitment opportunities was noted (125 percent), it was apparent that day rates actually decreased by 3.5 percent bringing the average down to £315pd for interim resourcing specialists. What’s more a wider industry report, released by classified ads search engine Adzuna, highlighted that average salaries across the UK had decreased by 5.3 percent over the last 12 months; further evidencing a disparity between the increasing number of vacancies and earning potential.

Christian Thomas, Interim Team Leader at Oasis HR comments: “Having joined Oasis HR in May this year to head up the Interim team, it’s fantastic to see such a strong increase in the number of interim requisitions on our books. Coupled with an increased appetite for the ‘professional contractor proposition’ and the wider evidence of a positive ‘recruitment forecast’; the rest of 2014 promises to be very exciting! In 2013 our interim offering accounted for just 20 percent of our workload and now in 2014, it stands at 30 percent which is great from my perspective.

“One of my key observations is that we’re really beginning to see a trend in the types of skills required of HR interims, with change and transformation professionals being in strong demand as well as a clear need for individuals with solid exposure to HR systems. A clear priority for me is to continue building and strengthening our talent pools in these high demand areas to guarantee a swift turnaround for clients.”