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Recruitment has entered a phase of rapid transformation. The forces driving change are both longstanding (skills shortages, digitalisation, candidate expectations) and newer (AI-enabled tools, remote/hybrid work becoming the norm, a recalibration of recruitment budgets). For employers, recruiters, and job-seekers alike, the landscape looks different from just a few years ago — recognising this is the first step to staying ahead.
One of the most pressing shifts is the magnitude of skills gaps and how they are being managed. In the UK, the latest Employer Skills Survey showed that in 2024 there were around 250,500 vacancies that employers classified as “skill-shortage”, less than half the figure recorded in 2022 (531,200), yet still at a level comparable to 2017, with a density of 27% of vacancies being skill-shortage.
Below are just some of the key trends that employers, candidates, and recruiters alike should note.
Responding to the “Great Resignation”
Employers recently had to deal with the “Great Resignation” – the phenomenon of talented people quitting their jobs ‘en masse’ in search of new opportunities – and the statistics suggest that it isn’t just anecdotal, and really is keeping recruiters busy.
As reported by the Evening Standard, Britons were departing roles at the highest rate in more than a decade. A trend also observed across the Atlantic, a record 4.5 million people in the United States having resigned their jobs in November 2021.
Faced with greater difficulty in not only finding new staff, but also keeping hold of existing employees, organisations had to turn to a variety of tactics, such as offering higher wages and more flexible terms of employment and the offer of a four-day week, to potentially help reduce staff burnout levels.
Potential over Pedigree
Many employers now openly acknowledge that the barrier to recruitment isn’t simply “finding someone who applies” but “finding someone who has the right mix of skills, readiness and cultural fit”. A report by ManpowerGroup UK states that cross-sector skills gaps have reached an 18-year high, with 80% of UK employers reporting some level of skills shortage.
What this means in practice is that hiring processes increasingly favour potential over pedigree: job titles and formal qualifications matter less than demonstrable capability and adaptability. Research analysing millions of UK job adverts shows demand for AI and green-job skills growing strongly, and university-degree requirements being downweighted in those fields.
The rise of flexible training initiatives
As mentioned above, one of the biggest problems is skills shortages in the UK workforce. This was a problem effectively in the making for a long time. An analysis from the New Economics Foundation (NEF) having found that before the pandemic, only 6% of workers were retraining for a new job.
Still, it is often said that the first step to solving a particular problem is knowing one has a problem. For that reason, it looks like upskilling will be a big focus for employers, staff, and other industry observers.
The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) has recently proposed various measures by which the skills shortage crisis could be tackled, such as the development of flexible training initiatives, and steps by Government to make the UK a more attractive destination for highly skilled individuals from abroad.
As for if you are reading this as a worker, now is surely the time to set in motion any retraining ambitions you might have, to start taking advantage of employers’ thirst for skills. Opportunities abound, whether you are a recent university leaver brushing up on your digital proficiency, or a mental health professional adding to your skillset with addiction therapy, trauma or borderline personality disorder training.
Increasingly technological and data-driven recruitment
You might think there’s an awful lot of technology underpinning the leading firms’ recruitment processes already – but there always seems to be further that both organisations and workers can go with digitalisation.
Recruitment methods are becoming even more technological and data-driven. Technologies such as AI, automation, applicant-tracking systems, talent-matching platforms, and analytics dashboards are no longer fringe—they’re becoming standard parts of the toolkit. For example, global data suggests that about 75% of organisations have adopted some form of AI-driven workforce automation. Today, hiring is less about posting a role and waiting, and more about orchestrating a coordinated talent-investment, analytics-led operation. Metrics such as the time-to-hire, offer-acceptance rates, and candidate feedback scores are all under the microscope.
Prospective employers using branding and SEO to position themselves advantageously
With candidates now routinely considering the broader values of potential employers when deciding where to work, it couldn’t be more important today for organisations seeking talent to tell a compelling brand story.
The most talented jobseekers will wish to know your company’s stance on such issues as the environment and corporate social responsibility (CSR), and just as importantly, what your firm is actually doing to back up its stated priorities.
In other words, your brand can’t afford to be ‘just about’ making money or even delivering its core products or services to a high standard. You might therefore consider how you can work with a digital marketing agency in Essex to spread the word across your firm’s website, blog, and social media channels about your company values and the great work your business is doing.
Put the spotlight on actual achievements that show you have a positive and inclusive workplace culture and are doing something to help make the world a better place, and you will almost certainly be able to achieve better recruitment and retention outcomes in 2025 and beyond. The recruitment industry is continuing to change fast. However, by acknowledging and keeping abreast of the above trends, you can help ensure you make all the right moves over the coming months, whether you are an employer, candidate, or recruiter.
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