Third quarter 2013 data released by the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) reveals a global increase in the value of senior executive search assignments, reflecting the second quarter trend of an industry focused on recruiting C-level and senior management positions.

The average fee per executive search assignment increased quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year in the third quarter of 2013, while the number of new executive search starts declined.

Peter Felix, President of AESC, said, “The third quarter results, building on the trends of the last year, clearly reflect client demand is focused on higher level searches as opposed to the volume associated with more middle level recruiting.”

“The retained search firms are gaining momentum at the top level of the executive suite, where more complex, confidential and global assignments are often standard. Given the world economy is steadily reawakening and the talent shortage is still severe in many markets, we believe the outlook is promising for the industry as a whole,” he added.