The talent landscape in 2025 is defined by contradiction: there’s no shortage of people looking for meaningful work—and yet employers across industries are struggling to fill roles. While many organizations paused hiring decisions during the uncertainty of recent election cycles, that hesitation hasn’t resolved itself with the calendar.
Each generation of candidates looking for work today looks for different factors to motivate job applications, creating additional complexity for hiring teams.
New headwinds have emerged: global tariff wars, cost volatility, and sustained market uncertainty are making workforce planning harder than ever.
Our new report sheds light on these changes and how employers can stand out. We don’t need more employer blanding, we need employer branding that tells stories and adds value to the hiring process.
When I spoke with our Chief Strategy Officer, George Rogers, about the current state of hiring, he noted how dramatically things have shifted since his early days as a regional retail operations executive.
“Back then, if you had a good store location and competitive wages, you’d get applicants. Today? It’s a different world. AI and automation are changing the hiring process and candidate expectations. Employers are no longer just competing with the business down the street—they’re competing across industries for the same high-value talent. And the general level of uncertainty? We’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
That uncertainty isn’t just about economics. It’s structural. AI is already reshaping roles across retail, logistics, finance, and customer service—particularly in entry-level and administrative positions. Former “on ramps” into the workforce are being automated, consolidated, or eliminated entirely. This isn’t a slow shift—it’s happening in real time.
And candidates aren’t sitting idle. They’re responding with technology of their own. Job seekers are using AI to rewrite resumes, automate job applications, and even simulate interview interactions, sometimes applying to hundreds of jobs a week. It’s not a funnel anymore—it’s a free-for-all.
Employers are being challenged to rethink how they engage, attract, and select the best talent. But that effort isn’t always rewarded: in fact, today, only 17% of candidates believe employers are “very honest” in how they present their brand.
To better understand these shifts, our team at Lighthouse Research & Advisory conducted the 2025 Talent Acquisition Trends Study, capturing insights from 1,000 global candidates and 1,013 talent acquisition and HR leaders. This study was underwritten by a variety of industry partners that are helping employers solve some of their toughest hiring challenges. We’re thankful to AppVault (adding value in recruitment marketing and employer branding) and ERIN (helping employers create valuable, high-impact referral outcomes).
Check out the 60+ page report to learn critical insights, such as:
Proactive talent acquisition teams are nearly twice as likely to say that they receive 50+ job applications per posting, and they are also twice as likely to be using AI to save recruiters five-plus hours a week.
Download the 2025 Talent Acquisition Trends report
Ben Eubanks is the Chief Research Officer at Lighthouse Research & Advisory. He is an author, speaker, and researcher with a passion for telling stories and making complex topics easy to understand.
His latest book Talent Scarcity answers the question every business leader has asked in recent years: “Where are all the people, and how do we get them back to work?” It shares practical and strategic recruiting and retention ideas and case studies for every employer.
His first book, Artificial Intelligence for HR, is the world’s most-cited resource on AI applications for hiring, development, and employee experience.
Ben has more than 10 years of experience both as an HR/recruiting executive as well as a researcher on workplace topics. His work is practical, relevant, and valued by practitioners from F100 firms to SMB organizations across the globe.
He has spoken to tens of thousands of HR professionals across the globe and enjoys sharing about technology, talent practices, and more. His speaking credits include the SHRM Annual Conference, Seminarium International, PeopleMatters Dubai and India, and over 100 other notable events.
