Refreshingly, February has shown an improvement in total market moves. The main headline is a 36% increase in external moves compared to February 2024 and 5% to January ‘25. This will boost the Executive HR community. However, it is worth acknowledging the poor performance of February 2024, but it remains a positive step forward.
Whilst the increase in external moves is welcome and the most pertinent figure, others are worth noting – not least the doubling of internal moves between Feb ’24 and Feb ‘25. While overall volumes have increased, the pattern of businesses preferring internal to external hires hasn’t shifted.
That trend is also shown between Jan ‘25 and Feb ‘25. Both internal and external hires increased at a healthy level, but internal appointments remained prevalent. Indeed, while the external figures look strong, they made up a smaller percentage of total moves in Feb ‘25 compared to February ‘24 and January ‘25.
Increased internal hiring might trim external opportunities but the market improved on both fronts. Increased activity is increased opportunity. However, the world has changed since these figures were recorded. We’ll wait to see if this momentum can be sustained.
Chris Williams is Director of Interim at Strategic Dimensions. If you have any questions on the market trends, or are interested in support with interim recruitment for your team, contact .