HR leaders always have one thing on their mind: securing the best talent.
While employers currently have the upper hand in the hiring market, companies still have to compete with one another to attract and retain top candidates. Many businesses have beefed up their benefits offerings to woo workers, some focus on building a strong company culture, and others have resorted to poaching professionals. But in 2025, technological advances could change everything we know about recruiting strategies.
Fortune spoke with nine HR leaders and people executives about how they think recruitment will change in 2025. While each company—from PwC to Hilton and EY—has its own strategy, there are a few common themes. They say that AI will continue to radically change recruitment, and skills-based hiring will only grow more popular.
These responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Yolanda Seals-Coffield, chief people officer at PwC
“We anticipate recruitment and talent strategies shifting to a stronger focus on being skills-based. Across the corporate landscape, job requirements and hiring decisions will increasingly be based primarily on a candidate’s skills, while development programs will be focused on enabling people to build future-ready technical and leadership capabilities.”
Jennie Rogerson, global head of people at Canva
“In 2025, as AI handles more routine and data-centric tasks, companies will put an even greater focus on recruiting candidates with strong non-technical skills like creativity, strategic insight, and first-principles thinking. We’ll see a premium on human-centric skills, with organizations striving to hire well-rounded teams.
“We’ll also see teams focusing on hiring people who are proficient in using AI, and excited for constant learning and AI skill improvement, as we see teams with AI outperforming teams without AI.”
Laura Coccaro, chief people officer at iCIMS
“Companies must continue to look for ways to differentiate, and flexibility remains a key consideration for many employees. But, its role in talent acquisition may be more nuanced than we think. While some companies are mandating stricter return-to-office policies, for smaller organizations without the salary or brand power of larger companies, flexibility could be a key differentiator. However, flexibility alone may not suffice; candidates are also assessing how workplace policies align with their overall experience, including opportunities for career growth, stability, and company culture. In this tightening job market, organizations must evaluate it all—whether workplace flexibility truly moves the needle, or if other factors, like career development and stability, play a greater role in the experience.
“Ultimately, the companies that can align flexibility and the employee experience with their business goals will stand out, even when competing against larger employers.”
Rebecca Perrault, global VP of culture, diversity, and sustainability at Magnit
“In 2025, recruitment will break away from traditional pipelines, focusing instead on skills-based hiring, AI-driven insights, and the power of authentic branding. Employers will move beyond rigid qualifications like degrees, instead prioritizing the competencies and growth potential that candidates bring to the table. Recruiting in 2025 isn’t about finding the best résumés; it’s about discovering the best possibilities.
“Gen Z’s entrance into the workforce will push organizations to rethink engagement strategies, prioritizing flexibility, purpose-driven opportunities, and digital fluency. Companies that showcase authentic values through social media and innovative employer branding will stand out in a crowded talent marketplace.”
Victoria Myers, global head of talent attraction at Amdocs
“As a direct response to the growing use of AI candidate-matching technologies, recruitment strategies will shift in a major way toward skills-based hiring. Instead of prioritizing prior experience or traditional credentials, employers will focus on identifying candidates with the right skills for the job. For job seekers, this means rethinking how they present themselves and adopting a skills-first approach in their applications to align with how AI evaluates talent. This shift will create opportunities for candidates from diverse backgrounds while emphasizing capability to find the best fit.”
Ginnie Carlier, chief talent officer at EY
“With the skills shortage, organizations will need to think differently about potential candidates to go outside the ‘normal’ talent pool. Rather than looking for perfection, they need to start looking for potential. It’s not about whether an individual’s experience perfectly aligns with the role an organization is looking to fill. The focus should be on the candidate’s aptitude, ability to adapt to change, willingness to learn new skills, and desire to grow professionally. Conducting gamified assessments, live and prerecorded video assessments, and skills simulations, and even adjusting lines of questioning during behavioral interviews can help with that.
“In addition, organizations can continue to embrace digital recruiting to expand their reach and reimagine how they engage with early-career talent to meet this digital-native generation where they are.”
Laura Fuentes, chief human resources officer at Hilton
“While technology will continue to make the recruiting process more efficient, the candidate experience, driven by HR and recruiting teams, remains the most important aspect. The goal should be to find the balance between technology and efficiency without replacing the essential human touch, so that recruiters can focus more on creating personalized, customized candidate experiences. They’ll have capacity to develop bespoke experiences and build pipelines of previously unreachable talent.”
Malaika Myers, chief human resources officer at Hyatt Hotels
“Recruitment strategies—both in and outside of Hyatt—have already started to shift towards more data-driven and AI-enhanced approaches. At Hyatt, we’ve been testing the capabilities of AI and automation-powered tools to elevate the candidate experience, streamline the recruitment process, identify more qualified candidates, and amplify our employer brand through recruitment marketing. This will greatly enhance and accelerate the interview process and time-to-fill.
“As we embrace new tools, we do so mindfully to improve quality and inclusivity of candidates, adopt a ‘culture add’ versus a ‘culture fit’ mentality, and increase our colleague retention.
“In short, in 2025, we’re looking to marry AI-powered tools with our values-driven culture, to be both efficient and effective, while fostering a diverse and capable workforce that drives sustained success.”
Kathie Patterson, chief human resources officer at Ally Financial
“Next year, recruitment strategies will prioritize well-being and leadership development, while strengthening community connections by partnering with local organizations to enhance both recruitment efforts and build diverse talent pipelines aligned with our business goals. Authenticity and trust remain fundamental to driving an engaged workforce—and so, too, does purpose-driven work—so we will continue to showcase employee stories and cultural initiatives while investing in upskilling and clear career paths.”
