How To Assess Job Market Trends In 2025

🌟 𝗤𝟭 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗛𝗥 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 🌟 As we close out the first quarter of 2025, here’s a look at the key trends shaping the HR job market: 🔹 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 Rather than rushing to hire, organizations are prioritizing internal mobility, skill-based hiring, and targeted capability-building. The focus is on getting the right people in the right seats—not just filling headcount, but future-proofing the business. 🔹 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 Nearly 50% of our placements come from passive channels—roles that aren't even advertised. Hiring is highly intentional, and companies are engaging with strong HR talent well ahead of business needs. Pipelining, not posting, is the new norm. 🔹 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗛𝗥 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗜𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴—𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗦𝗼 𝗜𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Functions like Total Rewards, People Analytics, and HR Ops are seeing high demand. Candidates must demonstrate strong commercial acumen and the ability to drive strategy and tech adoption, especially in an AI-driven environment. 🔹 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: E𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 Companies are rebuilding leaner, more specialist TA teams, with deeper ties to key talent pools. 🔹 𝗔𝗜 & 𝗛𝗥 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 AI continues to be the most talked-about trend. From automated recruitment to predictive performance management, organizations are investing in tools that enhance efficiency, reduce bias, and support internal mobility. 🔹 𝗟𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 Voluntary attrition remains low, which makes passive candidate engagement more difficult. 🔹 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 Outdated metrics no longer cut it. Organizations are overhauling performance processes to align with business impact, capability-building, and ROI-driven outcomes. HR is playing a central role in redefining success. 🔹 𝗙𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘃𝘀. 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻-𝘁𝗼-𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲: 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 Most of our clients now expect 3 to 5 days in the office, but flexibility remains a key reason people move. Increasingly, the onus is on People Leaders to provide individual-level flexibility—a more human and tailored approach to hybrid work. 🔹 𝗛𝗥 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘃𝘀. 𝗕𝘂𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗺𝗮 As companies drive HR transformation, many are facing tough decisions: invest in up-skilling internal teams, or make external hires with future-ready skills? In some cases, we’re seeing reductions in force followed by strategic rehires to close capability gaps—particularly in areas like AI and workforce planning. 📩 Want the full report? Reach out to me directly and I’ll be happy to share #HRTrends #HRJobs

The Job Market Isn’t Broken—It’s Just Different. Here’s How to Adapt. If you're applying to jobs the same way you did in 2020, you’re fighting a losing battle. The market isn’t "broken"—it’s evolved. Here’s what’s changed (with data) and how to adjust: What’s Happening Now   1. AI Screening is the Gatekeeper     - 78% of resumes are rejected before a human sees them (LinkedIn, 2025).     - Old-school "buzzwords" (e.g., "team player," "hardworking") are flagged as fluff. 2. The Rise of Contract & "Try-Before-Hire" Roles     - 42% of new hires start as contractors (Upwork, 2025). Companies want to test fit before committing. 3. Hidden Job Market Dominates     - Only 1 in 5 roles are posted publicly (Forbes, 2024). The rest? Filled via referrals, internal moves, or direct outreach. 4. Skills > Degrees (For Real This Time)     - 65% of job postings no longer require a 4-year degree if skills are proven (Burning Glass, 2025). How to Adapt    1. Audit Your Resume for 2025-Friendly Keywords     - Stop: "Results-driven," "detail-oriented."     - Start: Use exact phrases from job descriptions (AI matches these).     - Pro Tip: Tools like Skillroads or Jobscan, analyze job posts vs. your resume.  2. Target Contract Roles     - Many full-time jobs start as 3-6 month contracts. Apply anyway—it’s the new interview.  3. Network Before You Need a Job     - 70% of hires come from referrals (Jobvite, 2025). Action: Message 2 people/week at target companies with:    --> "Hi [Name], I noticed you work at [Company]. I’m researching [industry/role]—could I ask one quick question?"  4. Prove Skills Publicly     - No degree? Build a 1-page case study (Google Doc/PDF) showing how you’ve solved a problem in your field. Attach it to apps. Bottom Line   The game changed. Your strategy has to too.   - This week: Run your resume through an ATS checker.   - Next week: Reach out to 3 people at companies you like. Agree? Repost ♻️ to help others wake up. Struggling? Drop a ❤️—I’ll share more tactics. #MeliConsultants #CareerAdvice #ResumeTips #InterviewPrep

Key takeaways from Mary Meeker's (340 page!) 2025 AI Trends report: 1. The Job market is actively reshaping with data showing a dramatic divergence in the labor market. Since January 2018, job postings in the USA requiring AI skills have skyrocketed by +448%, while non-AI IT job postings have declined by -9%. 2. It's about augmentation AND replacement. While the cliche that "You're not going to lose your job to an AI, but you're going to lose your job to somebody who uses AI" may be somewhat true, it's also true that companies are exploring agents to perform work, and this will have an impact on human jobs. HR and L&D need to really kick upskilling and integration into gear, empowering the workforce to use AI as a tool for productivity. 3. Company mandates on AI use are becoming the norm. Leading tech companies are no longer suggesting AI adoption - they're requiring it. Shopify now considers "reflexive AI usage" a "baseline expectation" for all employees. Duolingo is officially "AI-first," stating that AI use will be part of performance reviews and that new headcount will only be approved if a team cannot first automate its work. AI strategy starts at the top and leaders need to lead by example. 4. Employees are already seeing the benefits of AI - a survey of employed U.S. adults found that over 72% of those using AI chatbots at work say the tools are "extremely" or "very" helpful for doing things more quickly and improving the quality of their work. No surprise there, with the exception that perhaps the number should be higher than 72%. 5. The next generation of talent is AI-Native. Today's students are already leveraging AI for career readiness. A survey of 18-24 year-olds showed top use cases for ChatGPT include starting projects, summarizing texts, and career-related writing. Recruitment and onboarding strategies must adapt to a talent pool that expects AI tools from day one. So what does this all mean for HR and Talent leaders? This report signals a clear need to: 🚀 Rethink job descriptions & skill requirements - are you hiring for AI literacy? 🚀 Transform L&D - is your upskilling strategy focused on experiential learning and practical AI application or is it limited to online learning? 🚀 Update performance management - how will you measure and reward effective AI usage? 🚀 Adapt recruiting - how are you preparing to attract and retain an AI-native workforce? I don't think you can afford to take a "wait and see" approach. What are you and your company doing to get ahead and take full advantage of the benefits AI has to offer? Check out the full report here: https://lnkd.in/ed7j4Wi7 #AI #FutureOfWork #HumanResources #TalentAcquisition #Leadership