Most real estate finance firms don't have a talent problem. They have a business challenge presenting itself as one, and that distinction shapes the entire response. Holly Mickens, senior managing director of strategic advisory solutions at SitusAMC, draws on more than 12 years of placing specialized talent with lenders, servicers, and investors to make that case. What follows is her framework for diagnosing the real problem and building a workforce model fit for the current market.
The answer is almost never the talent itself. When a lender, servicer, or investor calls Holly Mickens, senior managing director of strategic advisory solutions at SitusAMC, she starts by separating symptoms from root causes. "Clients often describe symptoms versus root causes," she says. "When we work with clients, it's really understanding their pain points and what they're trying to solve for. I say I get my job right when I'm no longer a vendor, it's really about clients leveraging me as a business partner." The right diagnosis determines the right solution. A firm that treats a capability gap as a headcount gap will hire the wrong people and solve the wrong problem.
The rate cycle that began in 2022 reshaped the industry's relationship with its own workforce. As origination volumes collapsed and deal activity stalled, firms across the sector cut headcount aggressively. The Mortgage Bankers Association put 2023 US mortgage originations at approximately $2.2 trillion, roughly 63 percent below the revised 2021 peak of $4.44 trillion. The rebound brought a new problem: firms needed to rebuild capacity fast, without repeating the overcommitment that made those cuts so painful. The question shifted from how many people a firm needs to whether it can access the right expertise when it needs it.
The demand concentrates in a specific cluster. When clients come to SitusAMC (www.situsamc.com), most often they're after underwriting, diligence, servicing, valuation, or advisory support. "Most clients aren't looking for more people necessarily; they're looking for expertise and capacity," Mickens says. Because SitusAMC is entirely focused on real estate finance, its networks run deep. Leadership, client relationships, and strategic decision-making stay internal. Specialized expertise and surge capacity are where flexible talent creates the advantage. Mickens' team is counted on to supply both, drawing on those networks to match the right professionals to the right engagements.
The difference is the frame. Traditional workforce planning starts with org charts and FTE counts. The model Mickens describes starts with capabilities. "Clients want control, so it's a quest to blend strong internal teams with scalable specialized talent," she says. "Workforce strategy is becoming more of a business strategy discussion: a real shift from headcount management to capability management." That shift follows the logic of access over ownership. "It's about access to capabilities rather than ownership of them," Mickens says. "The greatest agility comes when organizations can pursue growth initiatives knowing they can procure the right talent, and that talent can focus entirely on the work."
Governance is where the program starts. SitusAMC shoulders compliance alignment and integration for every engagement in what is a heavily regulated industry. Mickens calls Day One onboarding and compliance alignment critical. Her team sets up internal controls, including background checks and ongoing oversight with larger engagements, from the beginning of the relationship. Accountability is nonnegotiable throughout. "When we bring in talent, we're not just putting a body in a seat," she states. External professionals are set up to operate as a natural extension of the organization they're joining. That structure protects both the client firm and the professionals placed within it.
Market uncertainty and tightening business demands signal that flexible workforce models aren't just a trend. "Organizations are increasingly viewing talent as an on-demand resource," Mickens says, adding that SitusAMC gives clients workforce utilization they can ramp up and down with ease. The lean in-house core supplemented by third-party specialist capacity will keep growing as the dominant model, she predicts. "Organizations that succeed won't have the largest teams, but the most adaptable ones. Even in how I manage my own team, that's what it's all about. There's an art, a finesse, to knowing how to meet market demand as it shifts."
The numbers are specific. SitusAMC completed more than 870,000 unique loan review scopes in 2025, supported more than 75 percent of all US securitization transactions that year, and backed more than $29.8 billion in new originations. It evaluates more than $2.4 trillion in commercial real estate assets and debt quarterly. The firm has operated as the leading residential mortgage diligence provider for more than 20 years. Mickens has been there for 12-and-a-half of them. "You really become a player-coach, on speed dial in both directions," she says. "They lean into you for what you can provide on the business side and, as one client puts it, my wisdom, which is both gratifying and humbling. I'm very passionate about it." Mortgage professionals looking for further analysis on real estate finance workforce strategy can explore MPA's premium sponsored reports. If this is useful to your team, share it on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
Holly Mickens: senior managing director of strategic advisory solutions, SitusAMC; 12-and-a-half-year tenure at the firm.