With over 75 percent of the executives surveyed being baby boomers, it is clear that being independent isn’t just for a retired executive who isn’t ready to play golf full-time. We are seeing more executives step into this kind of career long before they are near retirement age. They have had successful executive careers and are now looking to work independently with various companies that can use their expertise.

There is a growing demand for interim executives at the CEO and President levels. A number of variables affect the top position depending on whether it is family-owned, privately owned, or publicly traded.

From retirement to health issues and even predecessors being forced out, the increased demand is reflected in our survey, with more than 45 percent of interim executives providing top-level expertise. This is closely followed by operations, at 41.3 percent. We were surprised to see technology expertise more predominantly represented than finance with more than 21 percent of those polled. Finance, sales, and marketing were somewhat close, ending up between 17 and 18 percent.