Hiring in 2025: A Quick Market Update

By Ryan Kelly

As we approach a third of the way through the year, it’s a good opportunity to take stock of what’s happening in the market. To say it’s a mixed bag is an understatement. Some companies are experiencing real growth, while others are making redundancies.

So, what’s driving this?

There are a number of factors creating this imbalance in market conditions. A lot of it is out of your control: global economic uncertainty, upcoming elections, and changing business needs are leaving owners scratching their heads, wondering what they need to do to survive and keep pushing forward.

While many of these factors are beyond your control, one piece of leadership advice that stuck with me during a conversation with Chris Savage was this: the teams with the best people always win. And it’s true.

Businesses that focus on hiring and retaining top talent will always have an edge, no matter what market conditions they’re facing. The best businesses strike a balance between hiring internally and partnering with trusted recruitment agencies, partners who don’t just respond to a vacancy, but proactively bring the right people into your business ahead of the curve, helping you shape a stronger future.

They don’t see recruitment as a necessary evil. In fact, they recognise the value of hiring the best talent in the market. Because at the end of the day, the success of any business comes down to having the right people on your team.

As I type this, we are about to enter the business end of the year. The public holiday distractions are behind us, the upcoming election will soon be over, and guess what, we’re about to move into a candidate-driven market. Top talent will be in high demand and you’ll need a strong plan to not only attract but also retain your best people.

If you’re part of a leadership team, my advice is to run a workshop and ask the following questions:

• Why would someone want to join our business?
• Why would someone leave our business?
• Where are the skill gaps for where the business is heading?
• What traits do our high performers have in common?
• The hires that haven’t worked out — what can we learn from them?
• What type of business do we want to be?

Don’t wait for the market to shift before taking action. If you want help running a session like this with your team, drop us a message. I’ve facilitated workshops for various clients, and the feedback is often that the team walks away with clarity around what their next hires should look like.

Good luck for the rest of the year. Sometimes just showing up is the biggest challenge, and if you keep showing up, good times are just around the corner.