A notable division is currently emerging in the interim management market across the construction, real estate and financial sectors. The situation for freelance executives and experts is characterised by opposing trends that reflect the economic environment in these sectors.
On the one hand, around a third of active interim managers report high or full capacity utilisation. In these cases, targeted mandates provide a stable pipeline of assignments over extended periods.
Divergence between capacity utilisation and a shortage of assignments
In contrast, another segment of the market faces perceptible challenges. A significant proportion of professionals are experiencing a marked shortage of assignments. This discrepancy illustrates how unevenly demand for external management capacity is currently distributed across the various sub-sectors.
The reasons for this divided picture lie in the differing requirements of the individual sub-sectors. While external steering and leadership expertise is needed at short notice in some areas, caution and changed framework conditions elsewhere lead to delays or an absence of new appointments.
- —Construction sector: Selective demand for specialised steering amid changed market conditions
- —Real estate sector: Uneven distribution of tasks and external mandates
- —Financial sector: Restrained appointment activity alongside concurrent demand for targeted expertise
Outlook for the market segments
The current market situation demonstrates that the deployment of interim managers across construction, real estate and finance depends heavily on specific profiles and operational tasks. Whether the gap between full capacity utilisation and downtime narrows in future will be determined decisively by further momentum within the respective sectors.
