Contracting in 2025: Smart Strategy or Temporary Fix?

As employers enter the second half of 2025, the pressure to remain commercially resilient while managing ongoing cost constraints is shaping how hiring decisions are made. Amid continued salary stagnation, increased payroll overheads, and shifting expectations around flexibility, contracting is no longer treated as a stopgap. It’s being adopted as a practical workforce model, designed to bring in capability quickly and cost-effectively without long-term headcount growth.

This year’s EMR Salary Survey makes clear that businesses are reassessing how they build teams. With rising operational costs and changes to employer National Insurance contributions adding new pressure to payroll budgets, organisations are beginning to question whether to pause salary increases or turn instead to fractional, contract-based models. The survey highlights that this decision is already being reflected in real-time hiring strategy.

Contracting as a Cost-Controlled Workforce Tool

The data in our recent survey reflects a cautious approach to permanent hiring throughout 2025. In many cases, businesses are avoiding additional headcount altogether in favour of short-term, focused engagements. Contracting is now seen as a cost-efficient and lower-risk alternative to expanding permanent teams.

Organisations are applying this model to fill specific gaps, often on short notice, where capability is needed but long-term resourcing is either unfeasible or unnecessary. Interim talent is being used to deliver transformation programmes, provide campaign expertise, or step into leadership roles temporarily. The model allows employers to maintain progress without making permanent cost commitments.

This is especially relevant in an environment where delivery cannot pause but the outlook remains uncertain. Contracting gives hiring teams the flexibility to make decisions tied to project demands and outcomes, rather than fixed internal structures. That same responsiveness is also reflected in how employers are handling a more fluid candidate market.

Conditions Favour Employers. But Expectation Gaps Remain

With more experienced contractors entering the market following sector-wide restructures, employers are seeing greater availability and faster turnaround. The result is more control over timelines, access to broader skills, and shorter hiring cycles.

That said, this access does not eliminate the need to meet core contractor expectations. While organisations may have more leverage when it comes to project terms or notice periods, conditions around working patterns still influence decision-making for professionals. Employers who assume contractor availability guarantees alignment on flexibility are likely to encounter delays or missed opportunities.

This challenge becomes even more visible when viewed alongside evolving attitudes to location and time in role.

Flexibility Is Still a Filter

At large, hybrid patterns have become a non-negotiable factor for many workers. The EMR survey confirms that the majority of contractors continue to prefer two to three days per week in the office. This preference cuts across disciplines but is particularly strong in digital and communications.

Companies enforcing full-time office attendance are seeing slower uptake from highly skilled contractors. In a market where demand is strategic and not high-volume, that lag in engagement can derail timelines. Employers making use of contracting for speed and agility cannot afford for working patterns to become a barrier to access.

This reinforces the point that while the interim market is competitive, it is not passive. Contractors are choosing where to work based on fit, value, and flexibility. Those expectations remain consistent across the first half of the year. And with more businesses turning to contracting for essential delivery, the strength of that match is becoming more important.

Repositioning Contracting as an Operational Lever

Throughout the 2025 Salary Survey, there is clear evidence that contracting is being deployed as a structural resourcing model. Far from being a quick fix, it is enabling businesses to meet complex, capability-specific needs without overextending budgets or committing to roles that may not be sustainable in six months’ time.

This is especially true for employers managing delivery across transformation projects, campaign cycles, and brand or systems development. Where workload surges are predictable but short-lived, or where niche skill sets are required temporarily, interim hiring provides a route forward. The agility of the model allows businesses to avoid reactive decision-making and instead make strategic use of short-term resource.

The flexibility it provides is two-sided. Employers gain access to experienced talent without adding long-term risk, and professionals benefit from autonomy, clarity of delivery, and the ability to choose work aligned with their expertise. This dual benefit helps explain why demand in certain disciplines has remained consistent.

Further perspectives on this trend can be found in EMR’s feature on the case for going contract, which explores how organisations are applying flexible hiring to maintain delivery under pressure.

Strategic Demand Is Still Evident

One of the clearest themes to emerge is that contracting is no longer just a reactive resourcing method. While overall contract volumes remain steady, the types of roles being hired on an interim basis indicate targeted investment.

According to the survey,  the most sought-after roles include:

- Marketing Directors and Heads of Marketing to lead brand repositioning, oversee campaign performance, and support CRM strategy

- Digital and Performance Managers to deliver SEO, web optimisation, and paid media activation

- Communications Managers and Internal Comms Specialists, particularly where organisations are undergoing change or M&A activity, or investing in employer brand programmes

- Content and Creative Leads who support storytelling across social commerce, product marketing, and user engagement

This pattern shows that contract hiring is aligned with business goals. These are not convenience hires. They are functional decisions tied to growth, transformation, and commercial delivery.

The Outlook for the Second Half of 2025

As cost pressure continues and permanent headcount remains difficult to justify in many teams, the function of contracting is becoming more embedded. The EMR Salary Survey reflects this shift clearly. For many employers, it represents a viable alternative to immediate permanent growth. For many professionals, it offers greater control in a climate where security and working conditions are influencing every decision.

As businesses plan for the remainder of 2025, the question is less about whether contracting is still relevant. The question is how structured, forward-looking, and commercially aligned the use of interim resource will be.

Connect with EMR to explore how contract hiring can support your organisation’s plans for the year ahead. 

Please refer to the Salary Survey and Market Trend Report 2025 for full coverage here.