Across a variety of industries there is an increased trend for what’s known as fractional hiring - meaning senior employees who work for a business part-time, but are still considered to be fully embedded members of the team. 

Findings from the iGB 2025 Salary Survey reveal that this practice is increasingly popular in compliance functions at online gambling companies. 

WIth salaries for heads of compliance now ranging as high as €130,000, bringing a fractional regulatory expert on board is increasingly seen as a cost effective way of solving problems without blowing the budget. 

“Increased fines and licence exits are driving caution in compliance hiring. Fractional roles are gaining popularity as a cost-effective way to maintain oversight,” said Brooke Petersen, chief marketing and growth officer at Conexus. 

Multi-million dollar fines are still commonplace across Europe, with jurisdictions such as the Netherlands and the UK still major sources of enforcement action. 

Tax rates are also rising across European and Latin America, which combined with the risk of falling foul of regulators can lead to decisions to exit markets. 

Having full time compliance staff with regional expertise creates extra financial risk that makes it harder to pull out of jurisdictions that are no longer profitable. 

“Compliance and finance functions reflect a cautious market mood. Operators are consolidating licences and adopting fractional hiring to manage risk and clear backlogs cost effectively,” added Darren Kirby, business development director at Pentasia. 

Sudden changes demand answers 

Even where an operator is firmly committed to a particular market, changes to regulations or legislation can create compliance bottlenecks that, if not dealt with efficiently, can themselves lead to an increased risk of enforcement. 

Fractional hires can be brought in to help clear these buildups of regulatory work and to help educate and lead the wider compliance team on how to handle the key issues. 

Data suggests that fractional hiring more often takes place at senior levels, which can make expertise more affordable to companies of different sizes. 

This also enables firms to leverage existing regulator relationships that senior compliance staff have built up.  

Even if a compliance leader is only at your iGaming business for 2-3 days a week, that will still confer the same reputational benefit with a licensing authority as if they were a full time member of staff. Simply having them on board to advise and manage that relationship can be a huge level up. 

“Fractional hiring has gained significant traction,” confirmed Kerry Gillitt, the head of practice for professional services at Pentasia.  

“[They are] used to clear backlogs, update policies and manage regulator relationships cost-effectively,” she said. 

Automation struggling to take hold 

Compliance is also a function which has a complex relationship with automation. 

In markets like the UK, operators are encouraged to use AI to help them flag players at risk of harm, but it would be frowned upon to cut real people out of that process entirely. While in other markets anything but the personal touch is strictly out of the question. 

This is even more true for anti-money laundering checks, which still need to be done largely manually in order to stay compliant with local regulations. 

Fractional hiring can help support in these areas, especially where systems can be partially automated without falling foul of the rules. 

Suppliers in iGaming are also increasingly becoming ensnared by regulation in Europe. Either through direct licensing or pressure placed on them by officials - in particular when it comes to who they sell their content to. 

Still, the B2B compliance burden is not yet as high as for operators, meaning that a fractional hire of an experienced regulatory expert can often meet their needs without requiring a major hiring outlay.