Demand for freelance managers is higher in the public sector than the private for the first time ever.

The Guardian reported earlier this week that although the economic recession has seen private sector opportunities shrink or disappear, the public and voluntary sectors have remained strong. It said that despite a possible squeze on public spending in 2010, this trend was likely to continue and experience freelancers may find employment opportunities such as temporary nurse manager jobs.

In the story, Tom Brass, chairman of the institute of Interim Mangers, said that "While the market has been very tough, that's been confined to the private sector. The general feeling is that public sector has held up pretty well and, if anything, has grown."

The Guardian reports that the public sector has also changed its relationship with interim employees over the past year. In order to improve efficiency many social care management jobs have been tendered to freelance contractors, bringing outside experience to bare in cutting wasteful practices and encouraging departments to co-ordinate resources such as HR or IT.

Between April and June of this year, the NHS reportedly accounted for 25% of interim assignments. Sian Thomas, the director of NHS Employers, said: "In the past four years the interim market has grown enormously. It's a high-value service, but where spending is very limited you have to be mindful of taxpayer's money. A lot of our interims are involved in service reviews and sensitive investigations where the added value is having a fresh pair of eyes".