Hiring in focus: 2025 lessons and 2026 priorities for HR
2025 was a big year for HR and talent acquisition (TA) teams. Between skills shortages, new technologies and growing compliance demands, the way we hire has evolved fast.
As we head into 2026, one thing is clear – HR’s role has never been more strategic. From using data to make better decisions to balancing AI with human connection, this year taught us a lot about the future of hiring.
Here’s what shaped 2025 and how your team can get ahead in 2026.
The skills gap kept widening
The skills shortage continued to bite across industries. While tech roles were hardest hit, employers in every sector struggled to find candidates with the right mix of technical and soft skills.
According to General Assembly’s Global Skills Report, 95% of respondents say it’s harder now than it was three years ago to find skilled candidates, while Indeed found 45% of managers cite a lack of skilled applicants as their top hiring challenge.
Neil Rose, Referoo CEO, says, “We’ve seen a real shift towards skills-based hiring this year. HR teams are less focused on what’s on paper and more on what people can actually do. The employers leading the way are investing in better assessment tools, upskilling programs and screening processes that reflect real capability.”
Expect to see this continue into 2026 as organisations prioritise skills visibility and internal mobility to bridge critical gaps.
HR became a strategic business driver
HR’s influence grew in 2025, moving beyond people management to drive business transformation.
According to Deloitte, HR leaders are no longer confined to back-office functions: “CHROs now operate as core strategic partners alongside CEOs and CFOs, influencing decisions on digital transformation, global workforce strategies and organisational agility.”
Rose echoes this sentiment: “HR isn’t just an admin function anymore; it’s a business-critical one. When you can show how hiring efficiency, compliance and candidate experience impact the bottom line, you move from support to strategy.”
Platforms like Referoo Hub already support this shift by giving HR teams access to compliance data, turnaround times and risk insights in one place. In 2026, data will be the foundation of every major people decision.
The rise (and reality) of AI in hiring
AI was the hottest topic of 2025. From screening CVs to shortlisting candidates, AI-powered tools helped speed up hiring but also raised questions about bias and transparency.
Forward-thinking HR teams are now taking a human-in-the-loop approach, using AI to enhance rather than replace decision-making.
Rose says, “AI can transform hiring, but only if it’s used responsibly. Compliance, fairness and transparency need to be built in from day one. The future isn’t AI versus humans; it’s AI supporting HR to make faster, smarter and fairer decisions.”
In 2026, expect tighter regulation around AI in recruitment and more emphasis on ethical, compliant AI practices.
Employee expectations reshaped retention
Flexibility and wellbeing remained front of mind for employees in 2025. Hybrid work stabilised, but engagement emerged as a new challenge. The rise of “job hugging”, employees staying in roles out of security rather than satisfaction, highlighted a growing disconnect between tenure and engagement.
Rose says, “We’ve spent years talking about attraction, but retention is the new battleground. Employees want purpose, growth and balance, and they’ll quietly check out if they don’t get it. In 2026, the focus will be on rebuilding connection and trust.”
HR teams will need to prioritise employee experience, growth pathways and manager capability to lift engagement and retention in the year ahead.
Manual tasks and fragmented hiring tools became a major bottleneck
Another major challenge that came into sharp focus in 2025 was the impact of manual, repetitive tasks and disconnected HR systems. According to Human Resources Director, HR leaders say inefficient workflows, a lack of seamless functionality and too many scattered tools have become some of their biggest operational pain points heading into 2026.
With hiring processes often spread across multiple platforms, from screening to onboarding, teams lost time to double-handling, data entry and platform-switching, all of which slowed down both hiring efficiency and candidate experience.
Looking forward, expect more organisations to consolidate technology stacks and prioritise platforms like Referoo Hub that offer end-to-end visibility, automation and frictionless candidate journeys. HR teams that streamline the back end will see immediate gains in efficiency, accuracy and engagement.
Compliance and trust became business essentials
With rising rates of fraud and identity theft, background screening moved to the top of the risk agenda.
Organisations using Referoo Hub have been able to streamline checks, from Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Checks (police checks) to professional qualification checks, while maintaining compliance and reducing manual admin.
Rose says, “Compliance isn’t just a tick-the-box exercise anymore. It’s about trust. Clients, candidates and regulators expect transparency, and HR leaders who can deliver that will have a competitive edge.”
As we move into 2026, expect compliance, data protection and fraud prevention to be central to every HR strategy.
What HR should focus on in 2026
- Invest in skills visibility: Map your organisation’s skills to uncover strengths and gaps.
- Leverage data: Use analytics to drive faster, smarter hiring decisions.
- Stay compliant: With new AI and screening regulations coming, compliance will be a competitive advantage.
- Champion human connection: As automation scales, empathy, culture and trust will define your employer brand.
Rose’s final word
“2025 was about speed, automation and resilience. 2026 will be about trust, data and human connection. The best HR teams will balance technology with genuine human insight; that’s where the real magic happens.”