Its the hottest job in finance right nowbut its not a permanent one.
The demand for interim CFOs is reaching new heights. To talk more about the trend, I sat down with Amelia Tyagi, CEO and cofounder of Business Talent Group (BTG), a Heidrick & Struggles company that provides project and interim executive talent for companies. BTG works with Fortune 1000 companies and global equivalents, private equity firms, and nonprofit organizations.
Using BTG proprietary data, Every year we do a big analysis of all the requests, the themes, and trends that were hearing in the markets, Tyagi says. We slice and dice that data.
The most significant demand for interim execs in 2022 was in the office of the CFO, according to BTGs 2023 High-End Independent Talent report released this morning. Interim CFO requests alone increased by 103% year over year at the firm, according to the report.
Thats the highest increase weve seen, and weve been tracking this since we were founded roughly 15 years ago, Tyagi says. We saw that interim CFOs represented nearly half of demand for all interim C-suite level requests, she says. And the trend for interim CFOs has even grown in the first quarter of 2023, Tyagi says. We think this is part of a longer-term trend.
Other finance roles are also highly in demand with controller taking the spot as the fastest-growing interim role (up 233% year over year), and 43% of interim requests at all levels originating from needs within finance (up 71% year over year). The majority of BTGs data is from leaders based in the U.S., some may work for global companies.
The report points to the growing complexity of the CFO roleand turnoverbolstering the need for interim finance chiefs. The CFO office is transforming, and that is going to create some churn, Tyagi says. I think that company owners are looking to the CFO to achieve more and to do it faster. And theyre looking for more flexible ways to achieve that, she says.
Interim CFOs are usually experienced because they need to hit the ground running, Tyagi says. Theyre absolutely serial CFOs. She continues, Being an interim CFO is usually a fairly intense, full-time role for six months or more. Theyre often choosing that path because they really like it.
These interim CFOs can take the reins, and really help them drive the function, very quickly, Tyagi explains. We also have situations where, for example, a company is experiencing rapid change, and they may not be ready to hire the permanent CFO, or they may need somebody on a transitional basis.
Theres also a trend toward CFOs being asked to do more than just finance, she says. In a challenging economic environment, CFOs are often playing a role in cost and technology restructuring as well as being a real strategic partner to the CEO, she says. And if its an investor backed company, theyre often the critical partner to the investor in achieving the investors goals.
BTG is seeing the need for interim finance chiefs broadly, across industries, Tyagi says. However, private equity-backed companies disproportionately seek out interim CFOs, she says. Overall, I think were all witnessing the transformation of the finance function, and the growth in interim CFOs is a part of that story.
I asked Tyagi what findings really surprised her. We expected to see growth in interim CFO demand, but the growth even surpassed what we expected, she says.
In these times of economic uncertainty, whats certain is CFOs are highly sought-after leaders.
Sheryl Estrada
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Quick note: Youll be hearing from my Fortune finance colleague Lucy Brewster on Wednesday and Thursday. See you on Friday.
Big deal
A new Pew Research Center survey found about a third of workers with jobs that can be done remotely are working from home all the time. This is a decline from 43% in January 2022 and 55% in October 2020. One of the topics highlighted in the survey is trust. Employees who work remotely all the time are the most likely to feel trusted. Seventy-nine percent of these workers say their manager trusts them a great deal, compared with 64% of hybrid workers. Meanwhile, hybrid workers feel slightly more trusted when they're in the office. Sixty-eight percent say their manager or supervisor trusts them a great deal to get their work done when theyre not teleworking. The finding is based on the responses of 5,902 U.S. adults.
Going deeper
"How Generative A.I. Will Change Sales," a report in Harvard Business Review, explores how generative A.I. may support sales teams, which have typically not been early adopters of technology. Sales work typically requires administrative work, routine interactions with clients, and management attention to tasks such as forecasting, and A.I. can help do these tasks more quickly, according to the report. "AI-powered systems are on the way to becoming every salespersons (and every sales managers) indispensable digital assistant," according to the report.
Leaderboard
Andy Borrmann was named CFO and EVP at Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq: SFST), the holding company for Southern First Bank. Borrmann joins Southern First with nearly 30 years of experience in the financial industry. He spent over a decade as a bank analyst for SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Morgan Keegan reporting on regional and community banks. For the past eleven years, Borrmann has served as CFO of SouthCrest Bank and SouthCrest Financial Group and was named CFO and chief strategy officer following their merger with Colony Bank.
Alison Ali Bauerlein was named CFO and treasurer at Sight Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGHT), an eye care technology company, effective April 3. Bauerlein joins Sight Sciences from Inogen, Inc, a medical technology company. She cofounded Inogen in 2001 and served as its CFO from 2009 through 2021. In this role, Bauerlein oversaw the global finance and accounting functions, including revenue management, financial planning and analysis, and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reporting.
Overheard
"It is a sad day for you and for us too. I can understand the bitterness, the anger, and the shock of all those who are disappointed, overwhelmed, and affected by the developments."
Credit Suisse chairman Axel Lehmann said to shareholders on Tuesday at the banks annual meeting regarding the collapse that led to Credit Suisse's takeover by UBS, CNBC reported.
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