February 2025

😫 Why is hiring so hard right now? 

TL;DR: More companies are trying to hire, while fewer high-skill professionals are actively looking for new jobs. The result: 91% of hiring managers are having trouble securing skilled workers —with 35% reporting it is very difficult. The gap is even larger for specialized roles, such as financial analysts and paralegals.

Hiring managers who want better results simply can’t keep doing the same old things. Here’s what to try instead:

🔭 Look elsewhere: If you want to find new candidates, be prepared to look in new places. Expand your search to include professionals outside of your immediate industry, high-potential candidates who can be trained quickly, and passive job seekers (AKA currently employed workers who aren’t actively looking for work but may be willing to explore a better opportunity).

📖 Tell me a story: Candidates want to know your story and how they fit in. Showcase your company’s culture, mission, values, and growth opportunities in job listings, on social media and every other chance you get. Then be sure to walk the walk.

💵 Get real about compensation: There’s no getting around it. The top two reasons job seekers say they look for a new job are a higher salary (59%) and better benefits and perks (38%). If your organization isn’t competitive in these areas, you are going to have a hard time attracting candidates in the current hiring market. Being clear about these details in job listings can help you attract more candidates, and ensure neither side is surprised once it’s time to talk salary later in the process.  

🎮 Find your flexibility: Flexible work can be a cheat code for gaining candidate interest. Only 26% of workers we surveyed said they would prefer a fully in-office position over any other arrangement. That means if your job listing is for in-person only, it is immediately less attractive to nearly three-quarters of potential employees. Some positions are best done in-person and that’s OK – but be realistic about the impact this will have on your candidate pool.

🧐 DFST? Yeah, you know me

Feeling lost in the ever-changing jobs landscape? Let our latest Demand for Skilled Talent report help you find the way.

The full report outlines our exclusive research and data on today’s job market and the latest hiring trends across 7 professional fields in 2025. Here are a few of the most important findings:

💼 Staffing up: More companies and managers are planning to hire in the first half of 2025. Against the backdrop of a low unemployment rate, this means competition for highly skilled employees will likely only get fiercer.

📉 Aspire to hire: With fewer skilled professionals looking to make a career change, employers need to work harder and faster to recruit top talent. Employers who waited too long to hire reported cascading impacts across their organizations, including employee burnout (42%), delayed projects (39%), and decreased productivity (37%).

🕵️ Who’s the boss? More than half of company leaders (51%) have not identified someone to take over their role when they eventually leave, indicating that their organizations are at risk of scrambling for leadership at a critical time. 

📊 Job market: by the numbers

🥁 Though business confidence continues to improve, there was no shortage of factors impacting the job market as we rang in 2025. From natural disasters to incoming policy changes, companies and job seekers alike are maintaining a measured approach early in 2025.

🤝 The economy added 143,000 jobs in January - just shy of economists' expectations. A bright spot? The unemployment rate edged down slightly to 4.0%. Meanwhile, job openings remain above the historic average at 7.6 million, highlighting pent-up demand for skilled talent.  

👂 Listening Party

Our Vice President of Marketing and Creative Talent Solutions, Paige Breedlove, recently joined the Take This Personally podcast to share her expertise on navigating today’s job market and the how to stay agile in a hectic hiring environment.

Check out the highlights on Take This Personally podcast’s Instagram.

☝️ Single Tasking Day

In today’s fast-paced world, multitasking is often celebrated, but on February 22, take a step back and embrace the power of single-tasking. Focusing on one task at a time can help increase productivity, improve quality, and reduce stress. In your career, honing the ability to single-task allows you to tackle projects with precision and efficiency. For managers and team leaders, encouraging single-tasking can help your team develop stronger focus, create better work, and foster a culture of intentionality and collaboration. It’s a simple yet effective way to boost productivity and nurture the ideal team dynamic.