We recently launched our Product Owner Spotlight Report which took a deep-dive into the world of Product Owners to provide you with insight into everything from candidate location through to salary data.

But when it comes to career progression and benefits, what is it exactly that really makes this candidate pool tick?

In this blog we’ll walk you through the necessary skills you should look for in a Product Owner, the typical career path these candidates take as well as the work styles this talent pool utilises so you can make sure your offer remains competitive in the market.

Let’s get tucked in…

What skills should Product Owners have?

For candidates to succeed in the Product Owner role (and to stand out in the market), they need to be pragmatic, possess strong communication skills and ideally be well versed in agile methodologies and prioritisation techniques. They may also have obtained relevant certifications such as CSPO and PSPO.

This is important because the fundamental aspect of Product Ownership is being the conduit between business units and teams. Whether that is between UX and Software engineering or business stakeholders and technology functions, they are the central point of engagement. These are candidates who have chosen to move from development teams to Product Ownership and so will often have excellent soft skills and enjoy stakeholder management responsibilities.

What does a career path look like for a Product Owner?

So, what does a typical Product Owner career path look like?

Generally speaking, there seems to be two core starting points for a Product Owner to take the first steps in their career:

• Business Analyst
• Software Development

As they gain experience, they often undertake increased strategic responsibility and can evolve into a Senior Product Owner role, this typical means working more closely with senior stakeholders or owning multiple products.

In our experience, it’s at this point that many candidates want to continue to progress up the ladder, and so we begin to see them move into Product Management roles and Senior Product Management roles which have far broader scope and allows the candidate to be more strategic in nature. In these roles there will be more of focus on shaping and influencing the Product roadmap but also what that means for the wider business as well as technical or product strategies.

After this, the career path can evolve, but we find the job title can be subjective to the scale and size of the organisation, product or software engineering teams and the business teams in the organisation.

But is the opportunity to widen their scope of work and skill sets all that’s important to these candidates?

How to make your offer stand out

In our experience, while opportunities to work on exciting projects or products and getting stuck into cutting-edge tech stacks are still important to candidates, now more than ever we’re seeing these candidates care more about the nature of the work they’re doing, and the type of company they’re working for.

We’ve seen high-quality professionals prioritising important social or ethically impactful Products within domains such HealthTech, FinTech, MedTech and even tending to shy away from potentially controversial industries like gambling or tobacco.

It’s also interesting to note the working style Product Owners are tending to favour. According to our data from 400+ job boards in this market, we’re seeing 6.8% of these roles advertised as fully remote, 26.8% as hybrid and 66.4% as fully in the office. From conversations with candidates and clients alike, there seems to be a real preference towards Hybrid approach.

In our experience, almost all of the high-quality Product specialists we’ve placed in the last 18 months from junior to CPO level, have a preference for some time on site. Due to the sheer nature of the role, they are the middle person between various people and teams. These sought after candidates find they can perform their role better with some face time and a human touch, so make sure that’s an option for them.

Looking to find out more?

If you want to tap into the Product Owner, we’d love to hear from you. Our data is showing a 2% nationwide increase in Product Owner headcount PLUS Sanderson hiring volume for this role has gone up by a whopping 50%, so now is more important than ever to get a solid grasp on this market so you’re ready to make your next move.

Please do reach out to Khalid Razouki on [email protected] to carry on the conversation, and why not dive a little deeper into the Product Owner market by downloading a copy of the full report in the short form below.

If you’ve arrived on this blog, then it’s likely your business operations involve managing a contingent workforce.

And that means you’re aware of how many moving parts this entails and that you probably have a never-ending list of administrative tasks piling up on your desk.

If you saw our recent blog on how an MSP (Managed Service Programme) can take the pain points away when you’re managing your contingent workers, then you’re undoubtedly ready and waiting to get started with an MSP of your own.

But where do you start?

In this blog we’ll walk you through a simple five step process of everything you need to consider to start the journey of making managing your contingent workforce a breeze. (And if you get to the end and find you might actually need a bit of help auditing your contingent workforce – just get in touch).

Let’s go!

Step 1: Audit Your Contingent Workforce Needs

Volume of Contingent Workers

First things first, it’s important to begin by getting a clear picture of what your contingent workforce population currently looks like. Understanding not only how many contingent workers you have, but also what their worker status is, how much you’re spending on contingent workers, and their tenure will help to identify your current requirements.

You can use this information to map out how this might change in the future based on your business needs and ensure that you’re picking an MSP partner with the financial stability to manage your contingent worker spend.

Diversity of Skills and Roles

During your initial audit, you should also consider the range of skills and the types of roles you’re hiring for.

Do you need a variety of different skills or are you focusing in on once niche skill set? Do you need these roles to be based across multiple locations or are they all centralised?

Mapping out these requirements and handing them over to an MSP partner will help to streamline the process and avoid you having to keep multiple plates spinning.

Flexibility and Scalability Needs

During this step you should also have a think about your future business plans. Do you anticipate any fluctuations in demand? Maybe you’re looking to expand one of your business lines and you need people on the ground to make it happen?

By utilising an MSP you’ll be supported in strategic workforce planning and be far better set up to rapidly scale your business by getting feet on the ground, where you need them.

Step 2: Define Your Goals & Priorities

Key Objectives

So now you know where you’re currently at with your contingent workforce, it’s time to take a look at where you want to go and lay out on paper exactly what you want to achieve with an MSP.

This might be cost savings, ensuring compliance with necessary regulations, getting better access to quality talent or maybe even reducing the administrative burden on you and your teams.

Current Pain Points

During this step you should also assess what challenges you’re currently facing while managing your contingent workforce.

Maybe there’s a lack of visibility across the business on what’s going on with the contingent worker population, maybe you’ve got concerns about IR35 or maybe it’s just that you’re finding it difficult managing multiple talent suppliers and the quality of people you’re currently getting isn’t quite what you’re after.

Desired Level of Control

You should also try and decide exactly how much direct control you want over your contingent workers versus how much you’re comfortable completely outsourcing.

MSPs can vary in how they manage vendor relationships so make sure you know exactly what you’re after at the outset. Would an automated and ‘technology first’ approach work for you and your business, or do you think your hiring managers would prefer an MSP partner who can be onsite when deploying new workers to offer more hands-on support?

Step 3: Research MSP Models & Service Options

Choose the Right MSP Model

Next up its time to do your research and scope out what sort of MSP might be the best fit for you. Consider the needs that you defined in Step 2, and with these in mind determine which MSP model might be the best fit. (You can remind yourself on the differences between a master, neutral or hybrid MSP model in this blog).

Consider Statement of Work (SOW) Management

Do you use SOW contracts for your project-based work? If you do it’s worth making note of this during your research phase as you might benefit from an MSP that integrates both contingent labour and SOW management.

With an MSP this could be a day one service or even part of a continuous improvement programme, so make sure you know if it’s relevant to your work.

Ability to Influence the Solution

Now you’ve nailed Step 2 and decided what level of control you require, take the research phase as an opportunity to assess what level of influence you need over your MSP provider. If you want this to be a little more customisable, keep a look out for MSP partners who can tailor their solutions to your specific industry, workforce needs and the location you want the talent to be based.

Step 4: Calculate ROI and Budget Considerations

Estimate Potential Savings

If you’re looking to get started with an MSP of your own, then you’re probably already aware of the potential cost savings that this can bring you and your business. With benefits such as competitive supplier negotiations, rate card management, direct sourcing discounts and even just more streamlined processes, MSPs can deliver you a huge range of possible savings.

During this step, have a go at evaluating the potential financial impact you could get from an MSP to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck as you get started.

Budget for Implementation Costs

You should also take the time to consider any upfront costs your business will have to make when initially implementing your MSP. This might be anything from new technology that will need to be integrated, supplier transition costs or even factoring in the cost of training.

Compare MSP Costs to In-House Management

Finally, it would be worth factoring in the costs of managing your contingent workers in-house versus the fees associated with an MSP. Having this laid out will help you demonstrate the cost saving benefits to the stakeholders in your business.

Step 5: Evaluate Potential MSP Providers

Industry Expertise

And now we get to the fifth and final step in getting started with an MSP. When you’re looking to get started with rolling out an MSP it’s important that you do your research on potential providers. It’s recommended to look for MSPs with experience in your industry (or similar industry) as this will ensure they have specialist knowledge and can tap into relevant networks for you.

We’d recommend looking for suppliers who are happy to introduce you to current clients and invite you to meet their teams so you can take any references you need and meet the people who will be delivering your service.

Service Level Support

When comparing potential MSP providers, one of the aspects you should evaluate is the level of support you’ll be offered, particularly during implementation and for ongoing account management.

Do you have the option of on-site support if you need it? What sort of resources are available to you for troubleshooting? These are important things to get answers to out the outset to avoid any last-minute panic down the line.

Plan Your RFP Process

Last but my no means least, make sure you set yourself up for success in the RFP (Request For Proposal) process by planning out what questions you need to ask.

During this stage, you need to be able to adequately ascertain whether the MSP providers you’re considering have not only the size, financial stability and experience to meet your needs, but also that they align with your company values and that you can feel confident they’ll represent and communicate your employer brand effectively.

Top Tip – Why not ask the providers you’re considering if they’ll share their RFP templates with you so you can get more of an idea of the key questions you need to be asking?

Ready to get started?

A Managed Service Programme (MSP) can help you to ditch the admin and deliver real business value from your contingent workforce.

Now you know what steps you need to take to get started, why not get stuck into figuring out which MSP model is right for you? We’re on hand to help guide you on which MSP model might work for you and your business, as well as what each of their benefits are.

Our mission is to deliver a best-in-class MSP service, and we use our unique combination of brilliant people, effective processes, innovative technologies and seamless collaboration to deliver this. As part of this mission, we’ve put together our Ultimate Guide to MSPs to set you up for success – and all you need to do is fill in the short form below.

Have any more questions? Please do reach out to Elizabeth Hawkins for a chat about how you can get started with managing your contingent workforce today on [email protected]

We’re pleased to present our brand new Monthly Spotlight Report focusing on Product Owners.

In this Report we deep-dive into the Product Owner market to provide you market-leading insights into everything from candidate location through to salary data to make sure your offer stands out in the crowd.

With our data showing a 2% nationwide increase in Product Owner headcount AND our hiring volume for this role going up by a whopping 50%, now is more important than ever to get a solid grasp on this market so you’re ready to make your next move.

We even lay out what a typical career path is for this role to give you an insight into what makes these candidates tick. Is it now more about the nature of the work vs a cutting edge tech stack?

Set yourself up for success by downloading your copy via the form below!

We recently launched our Q1 2025 Technology & Digital Insights Report which delves into the latest trends we’re seeing of businesses shifting their priorities and now looking to invest in more specialist skill sets such as data engineering and cloud technologies.

With the ever-increasing need to keep up with data security requirements, enable scalability and stay on top of emerging methodologies, businesses need people who can work across specialised platforms.

And one of the specialist skills sets we’ve seen emerge, with significant growth across the UK, is Python Engineering.

Why is demand for Python Engineering surging?

As a beginner-friendly language, Python is a popular choice among aspiring developers and is widely taught across academia, meaning there are more candidates with skills in this area entering the talent pool.

Also, its dominance in data analytics and modelling has made Python the backbone of programming libraries for data science, machine learning, and AI. As a result, many AI and machine learning products are now built using Python. This coupled with a strong community of developers and researchers has further contributed to its widespread adoption.

In my opinion, another reason why Python has very quickly become one of the busiest markets is because it really is everywhere. The software isn’t limited to traditional development thanks to its vast libraries.

Why is Python a good option for businesses?

Python is an attractive option for businesses due to its flexibility, ease of learning and cost-effectiveness, offering a free alternative to licensed languages like Java and .NET.

This is particularly the case for start-ups looking to invest in skills without unnecessary added costs.

Also, a bonus for data science and engineering companies is that Python’s prevalence means professionals they hire are likely already well-versed in the language, so they can hit the ground running.

I think Python can also be a good option for businesses because, thanks to it being an open-source platform, it can run on everything and can easily be integrated with other languages and systems your business may already be using.

The popularity of Python

According to our data, we’ve seen an increasing business demand for Python engineering as a skill.  In fact, Python is being featured in 71% of job posts compared to Java Engineers which is now only featuring in 49% of roles.

Also, when it comes to the candidates and talent pool, a recent study by Stack Overflow saw Python listed as the third most popular programming language and the first most popular programming language out of those candidates that are learning to code. A clear indicator that Python is set to continue in popularity as different generations enter the talent pool.

Python Developer profiles

If you’d like to dive a little deeper into the role of Python Engineers and get data into experience and gender breakdowns as well as talent pool location data, you can get it all at your fingertips by downloading our latest Technology & Digital Insights Report for Q1 2025.

This report is also jam packed with data on the latest trends across the whole Technology & Digital recruitment market, including the latest stats to see how your salaries are stacking up.

See how your salaries are comparing to others in your region and set your business up for success by downloading the full report today.

Have any more questions?

Don’t hesitate to reach out to me on [email protected]

In case you missed it, we recently launched our Financial Services Hiring Trends Report which focuses on Digital, Technology, Change and Transformation hiring in the Financial Services sector. The Report delves into how hiring in 2024 compared to the previous year, how hiring demand was split across the UK and what the job market looked like across the financial services sector.

But what exactly were the most in demand and most hired roles in this sector, and what does this tell us about trends we can predict for the rest of the year?

Most Hired Roles

Software Engineer and Developer

Our data showed us that Software Engineer and Developer roles soared above Business Analysts as the most in demand roles for 2024. This is likely thanks to the significant investment We have seen this trend in action already during Q1 of 2025 by placing 42% more Developer roles than we have Business Analysts.

Business Analyst

The demand for Business Analysts has traditionally always been high in the financial sector thanks to companies looking to optimise their processes, improve efficiencies and integrate the latest technologies, and this was yet again the case in 2024.

Data Analyst

The role of Data Analysts remained essential as many financial services organisations searched for candidates who can turn huge amounts of data into actionable insights. As, data underpins the business strategies of many financial organisations moving forwards, this continued surge in demand is expected.

Data Engineer

As data-driven decision-making continued to take hold of businesses, there was a continued necessity for clean and well-structured data, especially among those companies in the financial services sector who are hoping to leverage AI tools. We therefore saw a huge growth in the demand for Data Engineers both on a permanent and interim basis in addition to a desire to grow their own data talent through innovative capability development models.

Hiring Predictions for 2025

In terms of hiring demand, I believe we can head into the rest of 2025 with a cautious optimism. Throughout the first few months of the year, we saw resourcing requirements for permanent hiring improve by 6% during Q1 of 2025 compared to Q4 2024 and contingent talent demand improve by 2%. Already a lot of our clients are expressing an interest in hiring in greater numbers this year, and a particular theme we are seeing is hiring for Artificial Intelligence skill sets. Many of our clients have indicated they are considering how this will impact their ways of working and how they can transform to successfully leverage any benefits AI may offer in a compliant and ethical manner.

I believe there will continue to be a strong demand for talent in the financial services space, particularly for data roles.

However, I do predict that employer preferences will start to shift away from a skill sets focus, and more towards the capability of candidates.

The word ‘Curiosity’ is coming up more and more frequently in discussions with Financial Services technology clients in relation to the type of person they would like to hire; be that permanent or non-permanent.  In a world where technological advancements are fast evolving, our clients want to hire adaptable talent with a hunger to learn and to have a keen interest in ‘Why’ and ‘What Value’ the products they are building will deliver to the end user; be that the end customer or colleagues.

Increasingly during our briefings for individuals and teams, our clients are looking for a baseline technical skillset but the adaptability of the candidate to grow.  This means that we not only need to select candidates for their skillset and background, but also for behavioural characteristics like aptitude and agility.

We are already advancing in this direction through our Sanderson Projects service and also our exclusive permanent campaigns whereby cognitive behavioural testing and behavioural interviewing are embedded into the selection process.

This approach will provide clients with an approach that promotes cultural fit and alignment to company values, and retention and satisfaction within their workforce into the future.

In addition to hiring for capability at the experienced end of the market, we are also seeing a ‘grow your own’ approach to talent for the future.  This is due to the rise in organisations identifying their future talent shortages and focusing on how they can prepare for this via capability development programmes in order to hire more junior, diverse and talented individuals, develop them in role and ensure they have the skills their teams need both now and into the future.

Next steps

Are you ready to find out more?

As we start Q2 and look to the summer, now is the time to start thinking about enhancing operational efficiencies, addressing your skills gaps and supporting the reskilling of your existing workforce with the right blend of permanent employees, contractors and consultancies.

Arm yourself with data including exact talent pool numbers, tenue statistics, gender breakdowns and regional hot spots for the roles discussed above by downloading a copy of our Financial Services Hiring Trends Annual Report via the short form below.

Have any further questions or considering how your business can get ahead of these predictions? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me on [email protected]

Sanderson Government & Defence is pleased to present this new White Paper produced in partnership with The HR World. The Paper provides a vital insight into the importance and potential of the multi-generational workforce and brings together the ideas and experiences of some of the leading HR practitioners in the UK.

The multi-generational workforce represents one of the most challenging aspects about the workplace today. With some organisations seeing up to five generations working side by side, it’s an issue which impacts on all areas of HR and the running of an age diverse team is an aspect of the workplace that requires a lot of careful consideration.

Challenges of a Multi-Generational Workforce

A multi-generational workforce can cause challenges such as:

• Communication gaps and different generations preferring different methods of communicating.
• Different generations having different expectations from the workplace both in terms of what they put in and what they get out.
• Knowledge transferring and succession planning as older generations retire.

Opportunities of a Multi-Generational Workforce

However, with these challenges also come opportunities.

An age diverse workforce means a business can make the most of the talent that’s out there. It can bring in diverse viewpoints, strengths and ideas for the good of all parts of the organisation. It can not only use the skills of everyone in the organisation, but it can also confidently appeal to every generation in its customer base.

Strategies for working with a Multi-Generational Workforce

Offering a comprehensive insight into how the multigenerational workforce operates in today’s workplace, this White Paper provides you with practical steps for organisations to follow in order to get more from all their employees including:

• Fostering Open Communication
• Embracing Flexibility
• Implementing Mentoring and Reverse Mentoring
• Creating Inclusive Policies
• Encouraging Continuous Learning

As the workforce and talent pool continues to diversify, HR needs to develop the right approach to welcome and maximise the benefit of its age diverse employees. With Generation Alpha waiting in the wings, the challenge of delivering for everyone in the workplace will only increase.

Make sure you’re prepared by finding out more in the full White Paper. Download your own copy by filling out the short form below and don’t hesitate to get in touch with Nick Walrond or Mollie Hatton if you have any further questions or would like to chat about this topic further.

If your business operations involve managing a contingent workforce, you’ll be aware of how many moving parts this entails.

Whether it’s managing contractors and temporary employees, or consultants deployed under Statement of Work (SoW) agreements, there’s a lot to consider and it can create a lot of pain points for busy hiring managers.

You might find yourself buried in administrative tasks, dealing with clunky hiring processes that need a refresh, budget concerns if you’re not sure where all the costs are coming from, or even up come up against a brick wall when you need to bring in the right people to achieve your goals but don’t know where to turn.

This is where a Managed Service Programme (or MSP) comes in.

In this blog we’ll get stuck into the three most common pain points that might arise when managing your contingent workforce and how working with an MSP partner can help to take them away.

Let’s get started…

Attraction, Selection and Screening Candidates

So, you’re looking to hire contingent workers for a new project, but which route should you take (contractor / temp / consultant) and how do you find the time to attract and select the best talent when you have so many other demands on your time? With an MSP in place, your MSP partner will take the reins so you can sit back and focus on the day to day of running your business.

They will optimise processes to make it easy to gain approval for new hires and have access to the latest market intelligence to help your resource planning and budgeting. The MSP partner can either source directly or tap into a wide range of suppliers to create a pre-screened talent pool for you and take away the admin for scheduling interviews and managing offers, which saves you time and helps you engage with the best talent in the most cost-effective manner. An MSP also means consistent points of contact for both hiring managers, candidates and suppliers, ensuring consistent engagement whilst enabling you to concentrate on other priorities – a win win!

‘A common piece of feedback I receive from Programme Leaders is that they often opt for more expensive consultancy resource because the approval and selection process is so much easier. MSP solutions optimise processes to enable hiring managers to realise cost savings by hiring contractors and reduce the time to deploy and admin overheads’, Tom Moss, Head of Client Solutions.

Onboarding Contingent Employees

Once the interviews are completed and your candidates are selected, it’s time to onboard your people and, the need to ensure robust compliance can create a lot of bottle necks.

You ultimately want to mitigate risk in as smooth a process as possible and an MSP can provide that for both you as an employer, and your candidates. Your MSP partner will support your hiring managers with compliance documentation and process standardisation which will reduce your back and forth with suppliers – and they can even be on site to assist on the day.

And say goodbye to arranging laptops and IT set ups in time for a candidates start date, the MSP does all of this for you so you can get back to business.

“You took personal attention in lots of aspects of onboarding to help achieve great outcomes without compromising any of the important rigour, and the result is that our resource is in the building in time for a critical start date. I’m massively thankful for your help.” Feedback from hiring manager at Insurance client.

Offboarding your Contingent Workforce

Now the project is complete, and your temporary contracts are coming to an end, it’s time for offboarding. A time-consuming process with lots of boxes to tick and admin to complete, this can become a dreaded task for overworked hiring managers, particularly if the decision whether to extend or offboard comes at the last minute.

An MSP can take all this stress away for you. Your MSP partner will manage the full contract process, whether that’s an extension or a termination. The enhanced visibility and reporting provided by an MSP means this process can start 6-8 weeks before the end date, with regular check-ins to support your decision making. They’ll even sort the nitty gritty like the returning of tech and the closing down of IT accounts.

Looking to take your own contingent hiring pain points away?

If you’re looking to deliver real business value from your contingent workforce and are ready to ditch the admin and hit the ground running, getting started with an MSP could be the way to go. Why not download our Ultimate Guide on how you can get started today?

Answering all your questions from what types of MSP are available to you, a full brief of the benefits through to how exactly you can get started, this Guide will set you up for success – and all you need to do is fill in the short form below.

Have any more questions? Please do reach out to Tom Moss for a chat about how you can take away the pain points when managing your contingent workforce today on [email protected]

We’re pleased to present Sanderson’s brand-new Technology & Digital Insights Report for Q1 2025.

With signs of growth on the horizon we get stuck into latest trends so you can get ahead of the curve and win the best talent in what’s shaping up to be a competitive market place.

Have you noticed the shift in businesses looking to invest in specialist skill sets?

According to our data the demand for Data Engineering roles specialising in Cloud Technologies like Azure is surging as many companies integrate big data, AI and machine learning into their operations.

But if you want to keep up with data security requirements, enable scalability and stay on top of emerging methodologies, you’ll need people who can work across multiple platforms with a focus on:

⚠️Python
⚠️JavaScript
⚠️Node
⚠️Typescript Languages

With these trends set to continue through 2025, you’ll want to download the full report via the link below to ensure your Tech, Data and Cyber salaries are stacking up against others in your region and set your business up for success.

If you’re in the market for a more standardised, compliant and cost-efficient approach to the sourcing, onboarding and managing of your contractor population, you might be thinking of engaging with a partner for an MSP (Managed Service Programme).

However, one size does not fit all and there are different approaches and models to consider, all of which we discussed in our recent Guide. Whilst all MSPs bring a dedicated account team to drive efficient processes across the different stages of managing contingent workforces, from attraction, selection, onboarding, pre-engagement screening, and then offboarding, the major difference is the approach to candidate sourcing.

In this blog, we run through the different models and how they might benefit your organisation so that you can decide which one is right for you.

Let’s get stuck in…

Master Vendor MSP

Master Vendor is an MSP solution in which one MSP partner takes responsibility for the management of the end-to-end process and the sourcing of candidates themselves. They build a second-tier supply chain but only utilise it if they require additional help.

A Master Vendor MSP partner acts as the primary resourcing provider for your organisation. The partner will take direct responsibility for candidate sourcing, pre-screening and management, as well as building talent pipelines for future vacancies. They will only engage with other agencies if they cannot fulfil the role and need a bit of extra help. Basically, they’ll completely take the resourcing challenges and time-consuming admin tasks off your hands.

Advantages

This model offers a more streamlined process as one partner takes responsibility for all activity. Not only does this bring more accountability for hiring difficult to fill roles but will often result in quicker placements and a creation of talent pipelines for future roles, driving down your future time to hire.

Master Vendor MSP enables you to leverage economies of scale to realise significant cost savings through a simple pricing structure. A Master Vendor MSP also creates consistency of experience. The candidate experience will be more consistent as they are only dealing with one point of contact, and it will also help to improve the amplification of your employer brand messaging.

Challenges

When looking to engage with a master vendor MSP provider, selecting the right partner is key.

If you operate in a particularly niche market or are needing to flesh out your team for a very technical project, then be aware that some suppliers might not have the direct sourcing capability to provide access to the niche talent or specialised skills you require. It pays to do your research. A specialist master vend partner will be able to demonstrate the ability to source at least 90% of all roles directly.

This is particularly relevant if you’re needing to recruit over multiple locations, or even regions, it should also be noted that with a master vendor approach, it may be difficult to deploy workers consistently across a multi-region solution.

Neutral Vendor MSP

Next up, you’ve got your neutral vendor MSP model. When you’re working with an MSP partner in a neutral vendor capacity, this mean they will be acting as an intermediary between your company and the roles you need filling, and multiple other recruitment agencies. Think of them as being able to play the field for you.

They’ll review candidates from all these different sources and present the best options to you, regardless of source.

Advantages

The neutral vendor approach will spread out your risk and diversify your talent supply chains, which can then provide you with wider and more diverse access to talent.

You could also maximise some cost savings thanks to the transparency of this approach and being able to review the pricing structures of multiple different suppliers. A diverse supply chain builds scalability and flexibility into a solution.

Challenges

However, a neutral vendor approach may not achieve the same cost savings as a direct sourcing model as there will be two organisations to pay for each hire made, the agency supplier as well as the MSP partner.

Also, you should pay special attention to how each agency is presenting your employer brand to avoid a misalignment in how you’re being represented.

Hybrid Model MSP

Then you’ve got your hybrid model MSP partner. This combines some elements of both the vendor-neutral and the master vendor approaches.

With a hybrid model, the MSP partner may deliver to you via direct sourcing, while also appointing other primary suppliers and opening some of your roles up to a wider pool in the supply chain.

Advantages

A huge advantage you get with the hybrid model is flexibility as you’ll be able to choose the best model per job category. This could mean that your technology hiring is conducted via a neutral vendor approach, while your HR function is handled through a master vendor. This will optimise costs and efficiency while maintaining access to diverse suppliers.

This approach also means you’re not going to be limited by jurisdictions. You can easily hire across various geographical locations and get the best talent on the ground thanks to the expertise of different suppliers based where you need them – say goodbye to compromising on worker quality.

Challenges

However, a hybrid model approach does come with its own set of potential challenges. When you’re working with different MSP models operating for different job categories it can become a hugely complex process to manage. The hybrid model can work very effectively for large, multi-region contracts, mitigating risk and ensuring compliance with local regulations. For mid-size solutions (100 – 750 contractors under management) it may prove overly complex and not deliver the same benefits as the other models.

Which model is right for you?

So, which model do you think is right for you?

Well, it depends. The most appropriate model will depend on factors like your organisation’s size, industry sector, geographic scope, the mix between generalist and niche skills that you’re hiring for, not to mention your strategic goals.

Looking for more information?

We’re on hand to help guide you on which MSP model might be right for you and your business, and how you can get started.

You can find out more in our comprehensive Guide to MSP. Answering all of your questions from what the benefits are through to how to get started, this Guide will set you up for success.

If you have any further questions or would like to chat to us more, please don’t hesitate to reach out to:

Chesney Windsor – [email protected]

Or

Lisa Goodman – [email protected]

We’re now well into 2025 and it’s been a busy start to the year for Sanderson Government & Defence. But what can we learn from the last few months, and what can we expect from the rest of 2025 in the world of recruitment?

We sat down with G&D’s Head of Recruitment Services James Corcoran for his opinion on how the government and defence market has been looking and where it might be heading.

Focusing on permanent hiring

Well things are changing. It’s been a topsy turvy market over the course of the last 18 months where I’ve seen many organisations swing from putting all their focus on contract hiring, then onto permanent hiring and then back again in a recurring cycle.

But as we started this year, I’ve noticed more stability. Since beginning 2025 with a heavy focus on contract hiring, there’s been a huge shift in interest and conversations leaning more towards permanent hiring. The G&D team have been flying from meeting to meeting lately handing queries from customers on how to design, implement and then deliver numerous projects needing permanent hires.

To be honest, this was a trend I was expecting due to the increase in employer National Insurance contributions the government is implementing, and also the similarities in the market trends to the post financial crisis market. Companies are wanting more value for money with better return on investment, so I’m pleased to see the growth of businesses becoming more attune to the cost of hiring and the value of permanent staff – we’re moving away from the trend of just “hire and hope”.

Filling the skills gaps

Then there’s the change in attitude to the skills gaps that have been present in the government and defence job market.

While some of these gaps will remain due to reactive hiring spurred on by programme wins across the industry, a lot of these gaps will also be plugged. I expect to see a burst of strategic hires taking place in more challenging positions to fill any future skills gaps, as well as training programmes to further plug these gaps.

I strongly believe that its vital companies continue to focus on overcoming their skills gaps to ensure they’re preparing for the future. In my experience it’s key to show stakeholders the return on investment this will bring in order to get everyone on board with hiring pushes or training programmes. We would advise ring fencing a project that has defined outcomes that all stakeholders have agreed on, to increase engagement, foster commitment and prove value for money.

How can we help?

At Sanderson Government & Defence we have a wealth of experience in bringing stakeholders on this journey to ensure your training programme or recruitment drive gets off the ground.

We specialise in starting these conversations, setting up reskilling programmes and sourcing hard to find and hard to reach skill sets that will support your programme of work. The key is to deliver a tailored, outcome orientated service to ensure best value for money and best return on investment – the exact type of work that gets us up in the morning!

If this sounds like something your organisation needs, or you’d just like to chat about how you can start addressing your permanent hiring needs or how to start filling skills gaps, then please do get in touch with me on [email protected]