Is the consulting market saturated? Far from it.

Self-employed management consultants and experts are desperately sought after, in every industry and around the world. 80 percent of managers from around the world see a constant or even increasing demand in the next two to five years. This is one of the results of our "New Independent Workforce Study Report 2020".

450 executives from Europe to the Middle East to North and Latin America - were surveyed. The greatest demand is seen by managers in the IT&Telco space, consulting, automotive, industrial production and public sector. Although the study also reveals country-specific differences, the basic dynamics are similar in all regions.

Especially in the Middle East, consultants are sought by governments for economic reforms and in the private sector for growth strategies. Small companies certainly still have to catch-up: only 60 percent of them are looking for external advice, while the figure for medium-sized companies is already 78 percent.

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The unsurprising motive for managers to bring in experts from outside is to maintain a neutral perspective and to remain flexible throughout the development of a project and their organization. Two thirds of managers believe that any need for expertise and capacity can be met by external professionals.

Managers get consultants and experts on board via two channels mostly: Their personal network and by using platforms like expertpowerhouse. Age make quite a difference here. A close view reveals that younger executives access consultants via different channels than older executives.



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The unsurprising motive for managers to bring in experts from outside is to maintain a neutral perspective and to remain flexible throughout the development of a project and their organization. Two thirds of managers believe that any need for expertise and capacity can be met by external professionals.

It is not only in terms of content that companies are currently looking for professionals for digitalization and new work. Consultants and experts themselves are also increasingly reorganizing their own work. Companies want to deploy external experts on-demand and in a timely manner - preferably on a part-time basis over longer periods or as regular sparring partners. And the ask is often not only for generalist management consultants but specialists with a specific functional or industry expertise.

Platforms like expertpowerhouse offers added value to independent consultants and experts: they are relieved of time-consuming client acquisition and receive additional requests for work assignments - the latter increasingly are taking place virtually.


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