More consultants, fewer projects: consultingheads reads its own growth as a warning sign

Leverkusen, Germany, 6 May 2026 — Four months after passing the 20,000 mark, the consultingheads GmbH network counts 23,000 freelance consultants and interim managers, a 15 percent increase since January 2026. For Managing Director Olaf Melsbach, that is not cause for celebration.

"When 3,000 experienced professionals register for project work within four months, that is not a marketing success," says Melsbach. "A considerable share of them are coming out of career disruptions — cut positions, restructurings, contracts that ended. The supply of experience is currently growing faster than the demand for projects."

He is describing a gap that currently defines the market for freelance consulting: on the supply side, more and increasingly senior professionals are moving into project work, while on the demand side companies are holding back on awarding mandates. For freelancers, that means longer gaps between assignments and rising competition.

For companies, the picture reverses. Anyone staffing a project right now has access to profiles that would not have been available two years ago. That, in the company's assessment, creates a new problem of its own: "Past a certain size, a bigger pool helps nobody unless the pre-selection scales with it," says Melsbach. consultingheads combines algorithmic matching with personal support: technology narrows the field, but the recommendation that reaches the client comes from a person who knows both sides. As a rule, the shortlist is ready within 24 to 36 hours.

"In the short term, a growing network in a weak market is above all an obligation — towards people who are waiting for mandates," says Melsbach. "In the medium term it shifts the balance in our favour. When demand picks up again, we will have a depth in the network that was not there before. But what counts is not the number — it is whether the people we propose get the project done."

In April the company moved into new offices in Leverkusen, designed in part around in-person meetings with consultants and clients.

About consultingheads

consultingheads is the expert network when results matter. consultingheads GmbH, headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany, places hand-picked freelance consultants and interim managers with companies across the German-speaking market — typically within 24 to 36 hours, at a 95 percent placement rate and with more than 3,000 projects successfully completed. Founded in 2016, the company maintains a network of more than 23,000 vetted experts and covers mandates ranging from strategy consulting through IT, SAP and supply chain to leadership roles on the shop floor. Pre-selection is AI-supported; the recommendation that reaches the client is made by a person. Olaf Melsbach is Managing Director.

Press contact: Olaf Melsbach, Managing Director · consultingheads GmbH, Borsigstr. 1, 51381 Leverkusen, Germany · olaf.melsbach@consultingheads.com · consultingheads.com