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Hiring feels messy right now. Headlines warn of economic slowdowns, yet recruiters are busier than ever. Candidate volume is up, but quality remains elusive. And AI? It’s everywhere—but so is confusion about where it fits, what tools to prioritize, and how to use it responsibly.
To make sense of this, I had the privilege of sitting down with two incredibly sharp minds in talent acquisition and AI—Cameron Ellis, Talent Engagement Manager at Marcus Corporation, and Colton Green from IBM’s watsonx team. Together, we dug into findings from Employ’s 2025 Recruiter Nation Report, where we surveyed 1,200+ talent leaders on what’s really happening in hiring.
The conversations were candid, energizing, and at times, surprising. Here are the five biggest trends that stood out—and what they mean for your 2026 strategy.
Trend #1: Hiring Volume is Up—Even if Headlines Say Otherwise
According to our report, seven out of ten recruiters said hiring increased year-over-year and the same amount anticipate even more hires in 2026. Yet if you turn on the news, you’d think we’re in the middle of a hiring freeze.
So what’s the disconnect? Colton offered a sharp explanation:
“[It’s] the difference between macro versus micro dynamics,” Colton explained. “Headlines tend to focus on more broad macroeconomic indicators like gross domestic product, interest rates, whereas recruiters deal in the micro. You’re dealing with different sectors, different regions, and so your experiences might not reflect more broad overarching headlines.”
He also pointed to rising candidate volume as a factor: “With economic uncertainty looming, that’s on everyone’s mind. That might drive job-seeking behaviors as well. And so with increased candidate volume, I think that that can be exciting, and it’s an exciting challenge to tackle.”
What strikes me most about this disconnect is how recruiters day-to-day experiences are fundamentally different from what headlines capture. You’re dealing with real, immediate hiring needs in your specific sectors and markets. What makes our industry so rewarding right now, is the opportunity to innovate and use technology to evolve workflows and best practices to meet modern day demands.
Trend #2: More Candidates, But Quality is the Real Challenge
The real issue isn’t volume—it’s screening. 2 out of 3 of recruiters expect more applicants this upcoming year, and while that might sound like a win, it means oftentimes we’re looking for a needle in a haystack.
Cameron shared exactly how this plays out for recruiters:
“A high volume of candidates doesn’t necessarily translate into strong hires,” Cameron said. “Most of us recognize that we have limited time and resources to handle these high quantities of candidates. And because tasks like screening and sourcing and scheduling, stakeholder communications, consume so much of our bandwidth as recruiters, our teams often take a more reactive approach to these requisitions rather than a proactive approach where they can build those pipelines, nurture candidates. […] we’re also spending time managing our systems rather than managing our candidates.”
While it’s great to have more options for a role, the reality is this is overwhelming recruiting teams. And this causes a serious problem: You can’t scale candidate experience without freeing up time to actually engage with people.
My advice? Automate the administrative tasks—screening, scheduling, candidate communications, even parts of sourcing—so your team can focus on what matters: building relationships and identifying true fits. And this is exactly how many recruiters are using AI, which brings us to our next trend.
Trend #3: AI Investment is Growing—Use AI as an Augmentation Tool, Not a Replacement
According to our 2025 survey, 2 out of 3 of recruiters are increasing spend on AI recruiting tools in the next 6–12 months. The momentum is real. Here’s where it gets practical: AI use cases are evolving. Candidate matching used to be the top AI usage last year, but dropped 15 points, from 55 to 40% in 2025. Meanwhile, we also found writing job descriptions (41%), candidate communication (41%), and recruitment marketing (39%) all rose from last year.
Recruiters are quickly realizing AI can take on the time-consuming work that slows hiring down.
As Colton put it: “AI is gonna really cut through the fat, I think, in a lot of things, especially some of the more logistical things.” He also brings up a good point that this then helps you focus on improving customer experience: “What’s gonna be the differentiator from there is gonna be your ability to interact with others, the kindness that you show, the support that you show. […] If you’re coming in with warmth and grace for others, then you can give people a platform that they’re actually able to show their stuff and be their best self, which I think is really how you, be great at anything, but especially in recruitment.”
Here’s my takeaway: the best use of AI is where it complements your team’s strengths, not replaces them. You can use it to optimize job postings, streamline scheduling, draft initial candidate outreach, and make recommendations, but keep humans central to where it matters most: relationship-building, fit decisions, and personalized rejections.
Trend #4: Teams are Managing Risk And Governance is the Guardrail
When I polled our webinar audience on whether they have an AI governance policy, 31% said “Yes, in place and enforced” and another 30% said they’re either piloting or developing policies. This suggests people are starting to recognize the risks of using AI without real guardrails in place.
To lower risk while adopting this new technology, Cameron explained the smart, measured approach most teams are taking:
As she put it: “Most of us in TA and HR are cautiously curious about AI. We tend to put more emphasis on experimentation and learning before we fully adapt anything. […] Starting with those small baby steps—beginning with something like job content creation or candidate communications are helpful because they’re relatively low risk and contained tasks, so they allow us to experiment, learn, and see the value before we integrate anything into our daily routines.”
Colton also laid out what responsible AI governance looks like:
He explains: “It starts with what principles you wanna uphold with your governance framework. So thinking about things like transparency, observability, explainability. It’s not sort of a black box approach where you don’t know what the AI is actually doing or how it’s making its decisions. […] Governance takes place in perpetuity. […] It’s an ongoing process of making sure that you’re thinking about undetected bias. You’re thinking about documenting things thoroughly and then auditing your uses and your platforms regularly to make sure that it’s explainable, observable, and transparent.”
Before you adopt any AI tool, ask your vendor these questions: How are you auditing for bias? Can you explain how your algorithm makes decisions? Do you have an ethics framework? If they can’t answer clearly, keep looking. At Employ, we implement responsible AI directly into our products, which provides continuous monitoring and transparency, so your team can audit for bias and make informed decisions.
Trend #5: Skills-Based Hiring Gains Momentum
9 out of 10 teams now use skills-based hiring practices, and when I asked our webinar audience to name the top benefit they’ve seen using this technique, a whopping 73% said better candidate quality, followed by faster candidate hiring.
So what does skills-based hiring actually mean? It’s hiring for what someone can do and who they can become. It’s about evaluating candidates based on hands-on experience, transferable skills, and potential—not just degrees, certifications, or years in a role.
Cameron shared why some of their hiring teams have adapted to using skills-based hiring when assessing candidates for hourly hospitality roles at Marcus Corporation:
Cameron explains: “Number of years of experience as a front desk agent isn’t necessarily applicable when it comes down to, can this person effectively deal with a customer who’s irate or a guest who had a really bad experience? […] That typically doesn’t always come out in a normal interview process.”
As you adapt this new approach, keep in mind skills-based hiring is most effective when paired with clear competency frameworks, training budgets, and managers willing to coach people up. It’s not a checkbox, it’s a strategy that works only when applied thoughtfully.
What This Means for Your 2026 Strategy
Here’s what I’m taking away from all of this: volume is climbing, but quality is what actually matters. Skills are the new currency. AI can do incredible work—but only when it’s complementing your team, not replacing them, and proper governance is put in place.
My advice for 2026: don’t try to fix everything at once. Make a prioritized list of changes—starting with the ones that are actually keeping you up at night—and commit to improving them this year.
Ready to go deeper? Download the full 2025 Recruiter Nation Report to see the complete data from our survey with over 1,200+ talent leaders. This report is a great way to make data-driven decisions when creating your 2026 recruiting strategy.
