While search volume continues to rise so far in 2024, the makeup of those searches is following a prolonged trend to skew more heavily to C-level hires. Since the market began its decline in early 2022, C-level roles have eaten more and more into the share of newly opened executive searches. Through February, that figure is now 58% of all new searches opened, according to Thrive data. To provide context: That figure was just 36% in Q1 2022. With lower comp packages and smaller teams, it seems this new executive cohort is increasingly being asked to meet business goals with leaner teams. Businesses, in turn, are turning to more senior leadership to navigate that ask.