By Candice Thompson CertRP, Head of Recruitment at Hunter Adams
Something interesting is happening in the HR recruitment market.
We are seeing employers become more willing to hire, particularly into permanent roles. But I don’t think the most significant change is simply that permanent recruitment is picking up.
What stands out to me is how much more fluid the boundaries between permanent, fixed-term and interim recruitment have become.
Traditionally, these could feel like quite separate hiring decisions. You either needed a permanent employee, brought somebody in on a fixed-term contract, or hired an interim for a specific piece of work.
That is becoming less clear-cut.
We are increasingly seeing organisations bring someone in for a defined period, perhaps to support a transformation programme or six-month project, and then extend the assignment, move them onto another piece of work or ultimately offer them a permanent position.
For me, that tells us something important about the way employers are approaching recruitment in the current market.
They still need people. They still need skills. But many are thinking much more carefully about when, where and how they commit.
Hiring decisions are becoming more flexible
Businesses continue to face budget pressure and uncertainty, so permanent headcount often needs a very clear business case.
Where there is an ongoing and well-defined need, employers are increasingly prepared to make that permanent commitment.
Where the future is less certain, an interim or fixed-term appointment can give the organisation another route.
This is particularly relevant around areas such as:
- Transformation
- Restructuring and redundancy
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Organisational change
- Employee transfers
- HR systems projects
- Short-term specialist work
These are often projects with a beginning and an intended outcome, which naturally lends itself to interim or fixed-term support.
What is changing is what happens next.
An organisation might initially think it needs someone for six months. Six months later, another project has emerged. The person has built relationships, understands the business and has demonstrated what they can deliver.
Suddenly, going back out to the recruitment market can feel less attractive than keeping somebody who is already working.
Why more interim appointments are becoming permanent
This is one of the clearest shifts I have noticed compared with last year.
Historically, many career interim professionals were very committed to the interim model. They enjoyed moving between organisations, working on defined challenges and then going on to the next assignment.
Some would not have seriously considered permanent employment.
The uncertainty of the market has changed that calculation for some people.
If someone has spent six or twelve months with an organisation, enjoys the work and likes the people, a permanent role can offer stability without the uncertainty of wondering when the next project will appear.
There is a strong employer argument too.
By that stage, the organisation already knows the person.
They understand the culture. They have built internal relationships. They know the systems. They have demonstrated their capability, and there is far less uncertainty around whether they will work well with the wider team.
For an employer, that can remove considerable recruitment risk.
Instead of starting another search, onboarding someone new, and hoping the replacement performs as well, they retain someone who has already proved themselves.
In that sense, an interim assignment can sometimes become an extended, real-world assessment of both capability and fit.
Different parts of the UK are moving at different speeds
For the UK HR job market as a whole, the picture remains mixed, with different regions and sectors moving at different speeds. While hiring confidence is gradually improving, organisations remain cautious, with greater scrutiny around headcount, budgets and the need to demonstrate clear commercial value from new hires.
Demand remains strongest for HR professionals who can combine strong operational foundations with broader business, change and transformation capability. In some areas, particularly outside London and the major employment hubs, candidate availability has increased as organisations have restructured, creating a more competitive market. However, as confidence continues to return, we are seeing signs of employers becoming more willing to invest in permanent HR talent where there is a clear business need.
Other markets remain more cautious.
Aberdeen, for example, continues to be affected by uncertainty around oil and gas, and that inevitably influences how some organisations think about longer-term hiring commitments.
But one of the positive developments is that location is becoming less restrictive for certain types of HR work.
We are supporting recruitment across Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester, London and many of the areas in between. We also see opportunities emerging through our networks in places including Yorkshire and Leeds.
For specialist and project work in particular, clients are increasingly comfortable looking beyond their immediate geography.
A specialist based in Birmingham might support a project in Scotland remotely, travelling when the work requires it.
That gives employers access to a wider talent pool and gives HR professionals access to work that might once have been ruled out purely because of location.
The opportunity is broader than one sector
It is also worth challenging the assumption that HR recruitment activity is concentrated in only one or two industries.
We are currently seeing opportunities across:
- Renewables
- Charities and the third sector
- Legal services
- Hospitality
- Food and drink
- Retail and consumer businesses
Renewables is particularly interesting because opportunities are spread across the UK rather than being concentrated in a single regional hub.
The common theme is not necessarily sector.
It is change.
Businesses restructuring, integrating, growing, acquiring, improving systems, or changing how they operate all create people challenges. And those challenges often require HR capability.
A permanent role is no longer automatically the starting point
One mistake organisations can make is deciding on the employment model before defining the problem.
The first question should not always be:
“Do we need a permanent person?”
It might be:
“What does the business need to achieve?”
If you have a clear, continuing requirement, permanent recruitment may make absolute sense.
If you have a twelve-week restructuring project, you may need experienced specialist support that can start quickly and deliver a defined outcome.
If you know you need capability but are less certain about the longer-term structure, an FTC might give you space to make the right decision.
And sometimes the answer changes once somebody is in the organisation.
There is nothing wrong with that.
In fact, I think businesses are becoming more comfortable with the idea that the right recruitment solution can evolve alongside the business need.
What this means for candidates
The same flexibility matters on the candidate side.
I would encourage HR professionals not to dismiss an opportunity purely because the contract type looks different from what they originally had in mind.
An interim assignment can become longer term.
A fixed-term role can create valuable specialist experience.
A permanent role might appeal to someone who has spent much of their career working on projects.
And increasingly, project work can be delivered across regional boundaries.
We are seeing candidates already becoming more considered in what they apply for. The strongest people are looking carefully at the organisation, the challenge and whether their experience genuinely matches what is needed.
That is a much better starting point than focusing exclusively on the employment label.
Hiring around the business need
I don’t believe we are moving towards a market where permanent recruitment replaces interim recruitment, or vice versa.
What we are seeing is businesses becoming more deliberate about how they access HR capability.
The organisations making good decisions start by looking at the problem.
What expertise do we need?
How quickly do we need it?
Is this an ongoing requirement or a defined project?
Could the requirement change?
Where does the right talent actually need to be based?
Those questions create a much more useful conversation than simply starting with permanent versus interim.
Because ultimately, the objective isn’t to choose the right recruitment category.
It’s to get the right person into the business, at the right point, to solve the problem in front of you.
Need support with an HR hire?
At Hunter Adams, we recruit permanent, fixed-term and interim HR professionals across the UK, from specialist and operational appointments through to senior HR leadership and executive search.
If you’re not sure which type of support best fits the problem you’re trying to solve, let’s have a chat.
About Candice
Candice Thompson, Head of Recruitment
Known by many as the go-to HR recruitment professional for HR roles, Candice is very personable and a strong relationship builder. Our clients value her focus and tenacity in finding the right candidates quickly.
Candice joined Hunter Adams as a Sourcing Advisor in 2013 and has spent more than 12 years supporting clients and candidates across the HR recruitment market.
She holds a Level 3 Certificate in Recruitment Practice (CertRP) from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and an undergraduate degree in Social Psychology. She currently heads up our recruitment service, leading the team as they fill interim, permanent and FTC HR roles across the UK.
