Pay bonanza for freelance tech execs

Nearly half of interim managers expect to earn more than £100,000 this year, as pay rates for these freelance senior execs rise again.

Pay rates for interim managers hit an average of £685 per day last year, according to research by interim recruitment company, Praxis Executive. Twenty seven per cent of execs working on fixed-term contracts expect a 2007 salary in excess of £125,000.

Interims are used to plug gaps that arise when senior managers or directors need to be replaced. Praxis said UK businesses and public bodies are taking greater pains to recruit exactly the right permanent candidate and are consequently taking longer over the assessment process - which means more work for interim managers.

IT specialists are the third highest paid type of exec - equal with finance but behind turnaround specialist and chief executive roles.

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The highest paying industry sector for interim managers is financial services, closely followed by telecoms, technology and business services.

IT roles are the fourth most common by discipline - 11 per cent of all interim managers - with most being employed by telecoms and financial service companies.

The IT industry is the fifth biggest employer of interim managers, at seven per cent of the total.

In terms of day rates, the highest recorded for these short-term senior positions is £2,500. The lowest is £180 for short-term managers working for charitable organisations.

The benefits of using interim managers was explained by one respondent who said given the choice between "some know-all straight out of business school" and someone who has "been there and done it", there really isn't a choice at all.

The annual survey covered nearly 1,300 interim managers across the UK from 112 organisations.