1
Salary transparency & perks attract top talent
2
Work flexibility is essential for talent retention
3
AI adoption requires upskilling and trust-building
A happy team celebrates their success

Understanding the emerging 2025 hiring trends is essential to anticipate and overcome recruitment challenges. To avoid losing top talent, businesses must respond to the employees’ changing needs, understanding how new technologies, economic factors, and workplace expectations will shape the recruitment landscape.

So, let’s discuss the top five recruitment challenges your company might face in 2025 and the hiring trends you need to be prepared to address.

1.- Salary Remains the Most Decisive Factor

Employees prioritise higher salaries, driven by rising living costs and economic uncertainty. At the same time, though, many UK businesses, particularly SMEs, face budgetary constraints and cannot always meet the salary expectations of top candidates. This imbalance between candidate salary expectations and hiring budgets is causing difficulties for organisations looking to attract and retain top talent, especially for emerging roles or highly competitive industries.

To address this, UK employers must focus on salary benchmarking. Being transparent about the salary and benefits during candidate sourcing and providing a clear growth trajectory for new hires and existing employees can help manage their expectations.

While salary is the most important deciding factor, non-monetary perks, such as flexible working, enhanced leave policies, and health and wellness programmes, can help flip the coin in your favour when candidates are deciding between two job offers.

Two young mean and a woman look at the company benefits on the woman's iPad
Highlighting your company’s benefits during the hiring process can create a more attractive value proposition for candidates.

2.- Work Flexibility is a Non-Negotiable

Work-life balance is a decisive factor for employee satisfaction, with flexible work arrangements now considered essential in competitive sectors such as technology and digital rather than a nice-to-have perk. Still, many organisations want their employees in the office and won’t give employers control over their schedules, which reduces employee satisfaction and talent retention.

To remain competitive, employers can explore creative solutions such as staggered start times, compressed work weeks, or flexibility in deciding in-office versus remote work days. Consulting employees on their preferences and being open to adapting policies boosts loyalty and reduces employee turnover.

A lack of flexibility affects your existing workforce and your talent acquisition, too, as your recruitment strategy can only target local job seekers with a short commute. When you offer hybrid and flexible working options, you can target a wider talent pool with active and passive candidates.

3.- AI Integration in the Workplace

While adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in the workplace promises increased efficiency, many employees are concerned about job security, the lack of human judgement in AI-driven decisions, and data privacy risks. Upskilling and reskilling initiatives to empower employees to work alongside AI should be a priority to reduce anxiety and fear, build trust and prepare your workforce for the future of work.

A team of five women and one men of different ages learn in the office about using AI tools at work
Employers must help employees understand the potential benefits and limitations of AI and prepare them for the long-term impact of AI on careers and business growth.

4.- What’s Happening with DEI Initiatives?

Employees expect meaningful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, but many feel current efforts lack impact. A lack of diverse talent pools continues to be a problem in many sectors, such as Technology and Executive Search. Many executive boards lack representation of women and minorities, and age-related hiring bias remains a prominent issue. In the meantime, many US organisations are rolling back some DEI policies. META has been the latest company to announce it.

It remains unclear how budget cuts in diverse and inclusive recruiting programs in the US will impact the UK’s job market. In the meantime, at Adria Solutions, we advise our clients to diversify their hiring pipelines and avoid unconscious biases to maximise their talent attraction efforts and retain their top talent.

5.- Talent Retention Begins with Attracting the Right Talent

A Great Resignation 2.0 is on its way. At least, that’s what expert publications and reports say. A recent study by Gallup revealed that Millennials are less willing to stay in their current jobs in 2025. Six in 10 Millennials surveyed planned to move jobs within a year. A misalignment with their employers’ values seems to be an important factor in their decision to quit their jobs.

If talent retention is at the top of your list of recruitment challenges in 2025, here’s what you can do you drastically reduce talent turnover:

  • Attract candidates who align with your organisation’s culture and mission.
  • Regularly benchmark and adjust your salaries and compensation package to reflect industry standards.
  • Provide clear career progression paths and continuous development to help you close the skills gap.
  • Improve your candidate journey from a smart application tracking system and job board to a careers page that reflects your values, career progression, and employee testimonials. Employer engagement starts with a positive candidate experience.
  • Improve your internal communication to welcome employee feedback. An engaged and motivated employee will likely remain loyal to your company.
A happy team celebrates their success
Publishing your employee’s testimonials and wins on social media helps build a sense of belonging through recognition and regular feedback

How to Adapt Your Recruiting Process to the 2025 Hiring Trends

Hiring trends evolve fast, so it’s difficult to keep track of everything happening when you’re a busy hiring manager with many other responsibilities. Working with a reputable recruitment consultancy like Adria Solutions can help you understand emerging trends and anticipate and overcome any difficulties in your recruitment process.

Whether you’re looking for insights on salary benchmarking, retention strategies, or other hiring resources to support your data-driven recruitment decisions, our team is happy to connect with you. Follow the link below or fill up the contact form. We’re always happy to hear from you!

Nick Derham

Nick Derham

Director • C-Suite Executive Recruitment Specialist

Nick Derham is an IT Recruitment Specialist with 25 years of experience, including 20 years as Director of Adria Solutions. He specialises in Executive Search and is widely respected in the UK’s tech recruitment industry. Nick has provided expert commentary for specialist publications such as Tech Round, HubSpot, the UK News Group and UK Recruiter.

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