A Strong Weak Month
After an unusually strong June, the Nordic consulting market moved sharply into summer mode in July. Assignment volumes roughly halved month to month, but remained clearly above the level seen in July last year.
π Assignments & competition
The number of published assignments across the Nordics roughly halved compared with June. At the same time, assignment volume was 18.9% higher than in July last year.
The number of available consultants continued to decline:
β 7.9% compared with June
β 9.8% compared with July last year
The number of active advertisers also fell by 13.5% compared with June, but remained 9.1% higher year on year.
Brainvilleβs Unassignment Index, UIX, stands at 6.0 for the latest rolling three-month period. That is 0.6 points lower than the previous three-month period and 1.8 points lower than the corresponding period last year.
Together, the figures suggest that pressure on the consultant side of the market is gradually easing, even though conditions remain challenging for many consultants.
π Geography
Metropolitan regions increased their share of the Nordic assignment market by around 0.5 percentage points compared with June.
This continues the movement seen in June, although the overall shift was modest and individual countries showed considerably larger changes.
π Remote & hybrid work
The share of assignments offering some form of remote work decreased slightly from 40.7% to 39.6%.
The balance changed only marginally:
β Fully remote: from 6.4% to 5.8%
β Hybrid: from 34.2% to 33.8%
Given the lower assignment volumes in July, small month-to-month movements should be interpreted with some caution.
π©βπ» Roles
The Nordic role mix shifted compared with June:
β Engineers: approximately +2 percentage points
β System Architects: approximately +1.5 percentage points
β DataX: approximately +1 percentage point
β Project Managers: approximately β3 percentage points
β AI & ML roles: approximately β1.5 percentage points
β Testers: approximately β1 percentage point
Given the low assignment volume in July, these should primarily be viewed as monthly signals rather than clear trend changes.
Overall, July marked a sharp but expected seasonal slowdown after an unusually strong June. Assignment volume remained clearly above last yearβs level, while fewer available consultants and a lower UIX continued to point towards gradually easing pressure on the consultant side of the market.
π· The photo is from an early morning run in Aix-en-Provence, in front of the large fountain in the city centre. Once again, it was already a very warm morning. Running early was really the only option this summer.
Where is your favourite running route in Provence?
