Market conditions

January is one of the high points of the consultant's year so far as business planning is concerned. For the firms whose financial year starts in the summer, the New Year is a good time to check progress against assumptions; for those whose financial years start in the next couple of months, it is the last chance to take stock.

Two things are striking this year.

V-shaped, U-shaped, W-shaped or L-shaped? The debate about the overall trajectory of the recession in the wider economy has been growing in recent days. But what of the consulting industry?

One of the ways in which this recession is proving to be different from the last one is that demand for freelance consultants appears to have shrunk. Although there’s no hard data on the shift, anecdotal evidence from clients, consulting firms and even freelance consultants confirms it.

There are several possible explanations for this.