A growing number of unaffiliated executives in California are finding they can make a living working in a high-level capacity on a temporary basis for a wide range of businesses.
Flexperience, a firm that specializes in placing executives on a temporary basis in marketing, human resources, finance, legal and other disciplines, has found a large talent pool in its home market of California.
Sally Thornton, a co-founder of Flexperience, told abc7news.com, "We saw a bunch of highly-skilled talent who said, 'I love to work, I just don't want to work 80 hours anymore.'"
Tisa Beene, a certified public accountant is one of the new generation of temporary executives. She told abc7news, "Just the fact that I'm able to do CFO consulting for two startups in three-days a week, I think kind of says it all."
For the companies doing the hiring, a temp exec can be valuable while a permanent worker is off on maternal or some other form of leave. Hiring high priced talent is also less expensive than having someone on payroll full-time.
"The people that you get are not only highly qualified, but they are very motivated, they're very engaged, and it's a win-win for both sides," said Elaine Miller, a client of Flexperience.
Discussion Questions: Considering the economy and other factors, does hiring temporary executive talent make sense for companies in retailing and related businesses? What areas do you think executives can be best put to work on a temporary basis?