Top consulting firms move away from hiring from rivals

London’s top consulting firms are turning away from hiring from rivals, and turning to top executives in their clients’ industries, new data shows.

New figures from London-based global search firm TritonExec found that “direct domain experience hires” - hires from non-consulting sectors - has grown from a third of hires for top roles, where staff typically earn between £300,000 and £1 million. to half in 2023. That comes at the expense of career-long consultants, who have spent years in the sector.

The firm said many of the hires previously worked in roles like sales, solution architects, delivery leaders, data or tech.

Adam Stolerman, managing partner at TritonExec, said:  “In 2022, 72% of executive hires for IT Services and consultancy firms came from competitors, however, in the past year this has shifted to less than 50 per cent.

“There is a hunger among consultancy firms to offer direct industry experience to meet current challenges, specifically around AI and customer experience. These executives can offer a more practical track record blended with consulting experience and are able to grapple with the pace of digital transformation within the industries they serve.”