Why interim and contract hiring is having a moment. What you need to know for April 2026
By Iconic Resourcing | Interim & Contract
If there’s one thing that’s defined the hiring market so far in 2026, it’s this: businesses are moving carefully, but they are still moving. And nowhere is that more visible than in the interim and contract space. Across the UK, 47% of organisations plan to increase interim and contract recruitment in 2026.
At Iconic, this has been one of our busiest quarters in the interim and contract market, and the reasons why tell you a lot about where businesses are right now.
The pause before the permanent hire
We’re seeing a clear pattern emerge. When a role becomes vacant – through resignation, restructure, or organisational change – businesses aren’t automatically going straight to a permanent backfill. Instead, they’re bringing in interim support, taking a breath, and using that time to properly assess what they actually need. Do they replace like for like? Hire at a different level? Reshape the role entirely? Smart questions. And interim gives them the space to answer them properly rather than rushing into a permanent appointment they’re not ready to make.
It’s a sensible response to the current climate. With rising employment costs, ongoing uncertainty around headcount budgets, and a legislative landscape that’s shifting significantly, committing to a permanent hire requires a level of internal sign-off that isn’t always straightforward to secure quickly. Interim bridges that gap – and bridges it well.
Temp to perm: the market is telling you something
Another trend we’re watching closely: a significant number of our temporary workers have converted to permanent contracts this quarter. That’s not a coincidence. What it tells us is that the need was always there – businesses just weren’t always ready to commit to it upfront. When the interim or temp hire works well, and it usually does, the case for making it permanent becomes easier to make internally. It’s essentially a built in trial period, and both sides tend to benefit.
If you’re an employer who keeps finding yourself reaching for interim support in the same areas, it might be worth asking whether that’s actually a permanent need that’s not yet been formally recognised.
The legislative context: what’s changing and why it matters
This is a particularly important time to be across the employment law picture, because there’s a lot moving – and some of it lands very soon.
From 1 April 2026, the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over rises from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour – a 4.1% uplift. For those aged 18 to 20, the increase is more significant at 8.5%, taking the rate from £10.00 to £10.85. These aren’t small increases, and for businesses with larger hourly paid or flexible workforces, the cost impact is real and needs to be planned for now if it hasn’t been already.
Alongside that, from 6 April, Statutory Sick Pay is being reformed, with no earnings threshold and no three-day waiting period meaning SSP will be payable from the first day of sickness for all eligible workers. That’s a meaningful shift, particularly for employers who rely on flexible or temporary workforces.
More broadly, the Employment Rights Bill is now the Employment Rights Act, introducing the most significant changes to employment law in a generation, being implemented in phases across 2026 and 2027. Among the changes relevant to businesses using flexible labour: provisions around zero-hours contracts will give workers the right to a contract that reflects their regularly worked hours, with reasonable notice required for shift changes and compensation for shifts cancelled at short notice, rules that will also apply to agency workers.
There’s also a new Fair Work Agency launching in April 2026, consolidating enforcement of rights including National Minimum Wage, holiday pay, and Statutory Sick Pay into a single body – signalling a more coordinated approach to compliance enforcement going forward.
None of this is a reason to avoid flexible hiring – it remains a genuinely smart workforce strategy. But it does mean the importance of getting your contracts, processes, and pay structures right has never been higher. That’s exactly where working with a specialist partner makes a difference.
What the wider market is saying
It’s not just what we’re seeing on the ground. The Firefish Annual Recruitment Report 2026 found that over half of recruitment agencies are planning to increase their focus on contract and temporary recruitment this year – a clear reflection of where employer demand is heading. Scotland in particular is the most confident region in the UK, with 91% of agency leaders expecting growth in 2026 and the interim market is very much part of that picture.
Talk to us
If you’re weighing up whether interim or contract support is the right move for your business we’d love to have that conversation.
Get in touch with Gemma Gault or Hannah Green, for practical advice on hiring temporary or interim staff. No obligation, just a straightforward conversation about what your business actually needs right now.
📧 gemma.gault@iconicresourcing.com | hannah.green@iconicresourcing.com 📞 0141 486 8888
Market data referenced from the Firefish Annual Recruitment Report 2026, published by Firefish Software. Survey of 132 UK recruitment agency leaders, fieldwork November/December 2025. firefishsoftware.com