U.S. companies are increasingly reluctant to leave an empty CEO chair cold for too long, and have pivoted to a novel stop-gap solution — the interim CEO.
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One-third of new CEOs in the first half of 2025 held interim posts, according to a new study from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Part of the reason is high CEO turnover, and part of it is a rise in interim CEOs who specialize in stabilizing a rocky company while boards search for a long-term CEO solution.
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The study noted the interim CEO market has skyrocketed — 18% of all new U.S. CEOs tapped for the role in 2025 are essentially placeholders. That’s significantly higher than the 7% number posted a year ago, the report stated.
“The seeming reliance on interim leadership is a real change from previous years, including during the pandemic,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president at Challenger, Gray & Christmas. “While interim roles may offer flexibility or help bridge periods of uncertainty, they can also make it difficult to build team cohesion and execute long-term strategy. It may indicate that companies are reacting to turnover rather than proactively planning for it.”
The part-time leadership trend comes at a time when more CEOs are leaving their posts. The Challenger study said 860 CEOs have exited the C-Suite from January 1 to April 30, 2025. That’s up 15% from the 748 CEOs who left their posts during the same period last year.
It’s also the highest January to April total on record, the study reported.
Companies are turning to part-time CEOs for multiple reasons
A convergence of factors is driving the growing demand for interim CEOs, C-Suite experts say. That list includes economic volatility, executive retirements, and the ever-evolving demands placed on corporate decision-makers right now.
Chief among those reasons are executive departures.
“CEO exits, whether planned or unplanned, contribute to interim appointments,” said Sunny Ackerman, global managing partner of on-demand talent at Heidrick & Struggles, a global advisory firm that specializes in interim leadership. “We’ve found that succession planning doesn’t yet get the board attention it deserves.”
In such cases, interim CEOs can backfill these leadership gaps. “That ensures continuity as organizations lay the groundwork for their next phase, Ackerman noted.
Additionally, the part-time CEO trend may be longer than the “interim” term suggests.
“Interim CEOs aren’t simply a stopgap solution, and organizations are increasingly using them to gain a strategic edge,” Ackerman said. She noted that Heidrick & Struggles is increasingly seeing large and mid-market companies across the U.S. and European markets leveraging interim leaders as a core component of their leadership strategies.
“That ‘keep the seat warm’ strategy catalyzing high-impact company transformation initiatives,” she said. “Their ability to come in and quickly execute with precision makes them uniquely valuable during critical inflection points.”
The rise in short-term CEOs isn’t only about executives heading out the door.
“The reasons are structural and strategic,” said Jim Rettew, a San Francisco-based interim CEO and executive director who has worked for more than 15 organizations.
While every company has its unique reasons for bringing a short-term CEO on board, Rettew said, it’s most likely due to one of the following:
- Massive executive churn. Nearly 2,000 CEOs exited U.S. companies in 2024, which is a record number. “That trend fuels unexpected leadership gaps and prompts interim fills,” Rettew said.
- Rapid organizational shifts. Companies in mid-life crises, whether it’s a merger and acquisition, founder exit, financial distress, or digital transformation, need highly seasoned, results-oriented leadership without a slow hiring process.
- Investor urgency. Private equity-backed firms increasingly lean on interim CEOs to deliver turnaround value, oversee exits, integrations, and rapid scaling or restructuring.
- An on‑demand leadership economy. These days, senior executives are embracing portfolio careers. “Interim roles offer flexibility, mission variety, and impact without anchoring them to long‑term placements,” Rettew added.
When a new interim CEO shows up on day one, they may find themselves in a sink or swim scenario. Rettew’s job, for example, is to step in and stabilize organizations, often after a period of volatility and strife.
“When the executive director has been fired, when finances are in the tube, and morale is in the tank, I come in to turn the ship,” Rettew said.
Typically, an interim CEO like Rettew gets busy right away, so a wide-open an expansive viewpoint comes in handy.
“I usually inherit a situation that includes hidden debt, budget deficits, mass resignations, missing money, bad press, mistreated staff, political controversies, bad stakeholder blood, poor communication, and outdated processes,” he noted.
The pros and cons of bringing in an interim CEO
Rettew said interim CEOs are no longer seen as temporary caretakers.
“Instead, they’re increasingly treated as catalysts for transformation, trusted to stabilize, assess, and lead strategy when time is tight and stakes are high,” he said.
That’s the idea going in, but reality has a way of separating solid short-term CEOs from the rest of the pack. Here are some pros and cons companies should master before bringing an interim CEO into the corner office.
The Pros
- Crisis management expertise. Good short-term CEOs are skilled at triaging emergencies. “That could mean discovering deep deficits or lawsuits, stabilizing operations, and restoring credibility,” Rettew noted.
- Unbiased insight. Interims are often issue‑agnostic. “What matters is process, systems, culture, not subject‑matter domain knowledge,” Rettew said.
- A steady bridge. A successful interim CEO holds the fort while boards conduct deliberate CEO searches and support the onboarding of the next permanent leader.
The Cons
- Disruptive change. With a new CEO, staff and boards may resist reform. “Some staff will resign rather than face continued instability,” Rettew noted.
- Search fatigue. With an interim CEO strategy, company boards must now run two parallel searches, one for an interim and later the permanent hire. “That doubles the CEO onboarding process and drains energy,” he added.
- Dependency risk. Without a clear transition plan, organizations may delay permanent hiring or grow too comfortable with the interim.
Ask these key questions when vetting an interim CEO
With time a commodity when seeking a qualified interim CEO, getting the call right on a short-term CEO is critical. Consequently, tailor your short-term CEO hunt accordingly.
“Don’t shop for an interim CEO like you’re shopping for a permanent one. You’re not buying a resume; you’re hiring a mission specialist,” said Mark Viner, president of interim solutions at global talent firm ZRG. “Be clear on whether you need a stabilizer, a growth driver, or a turnaround architect, and make sure your choice matches the mission. Pay for the impact you need, not for seat-filling. And above all, give them the authority to do the job you’ve hired them to do. An interim CEO with their hands tied is just an expensive mascot.”
Additionally, if you’re on a company board, running human resources, or are a senior executive plugged in to the short-term CEO job search, make sure to ask these questions when you’re face-to-face with a candidate.
- What is one part of the company you believe will hold the highest value in the future, and how do you intend to deploy it for growth? “This query reveals where an interim CEO sees potential, whether they intend on protecting, investing, and where they intend on acting on new initiatives,” said Louisa Loran, a global executive advisor who’s worked with Moët Hennessy, Diageo, Maersk, and Google, and author of the book “Leadership Anatomy in Motion.”
- What behavior do you want to leave behind as part of the company’s fabric when you exit? “You’ll want to know whether a potential short-term CEO can build beyond their own tenure and if they know how to mobilize and motivate people across the organization and its ecosystem,” Loran noted.
- What skillset would you want in the person taking over from you? “You’ll also want to know whether a potential short-term CEO is building for continuity and whether they understand both their own strengths and when it’s time to pass the baton,” Loran added.
Companies need to be fully transparent about what they want from an interim CEO
With time a key factor in finding and installing a short-term CEO, companies must be fully transparent with top C-Suite candidates.
“Be crystal clear on what needs to happen, at what pace, and which tradeoffs the leader is empowered to make,” Loran said. Board of directors members and senior executives need to be in alignment upfront in order not to waste precious time.”
Additionally, don’t just brief the incoming individual. Instead, equip the entire organization for a robust interim CEO experience.
“Interim success depends less on who steps in and more on how well the system is brought to move, absorb, and evolve with them,” Loren noted.