Travel recruitment company Harp Wallen Executive Recruitment is launching a service to meet the demand for flexible working practices in the industry.
The firm’s FlexExec Register goes live today, with a database of industry-wide interim, contract and non-executive positions.
It follows an increase in demand from candidates for flexible, part-time or interim work as well as demand from travel companies to fill these types of roles.
About 10% of middle to senior management vacancies filled by the company in the past year have been for project or interim work, a figure managing director Kristina Wallen expects to at least double in the next year.
Some vacancies have resulted from industry consolidation while some came about because of staff on maternity leave.
The average annual salary for these vacancies is £42,000. About 200 of the firm’s 12,000 candidates are looking for interim work.
Wallen added: “We’ve seen an escalation in project interim work and companies are beginning to recognise that flexible working is cost-effective. We are seeing more positive responses from companies it’s about embracing flexible working and realising it’s here to stay.”
Consultant Ian Nash, who will head up the FlexExec Register, said it made sense for companies to take on interim staff to work on projects rather than wait to find suitable permanent employees.
Meanwhile, Harp Wallen hopes to fill more non-executive positions with the launch of the register.
“In the past we have tended to make informal introductions for non-executive roles but we see this as an increasing market,” said Wallen.
Wallen argued that statistics indicate a need for companies to take a more flexible approach with the number of men under the age of 45 predicted to be less than a third of the UK workforce by 2010.