These Top 10 Hiring Trends 2025 highlight the key shifts, including AI-driven hiring, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) priorities, remote and hybrid work models, and Gen Z workforce integration.
Here are the top ten factors impacting corporate recruitment:
These trends underscore the evolving landscape of recruitment, highlighting the importance of technology, inclusivity, flexibility, and strategic planning in attracting and retaining talent in 2025.
Sources:
ft.com |British workforce assesses US backlash against diversity rules
news.com.au | Remote workers 'less likely' to be hired
news.com.au | Gen Z pulling wild act on first day of new job
Don’t forget as a TA or HR Director its really good practice to have a staff referral scheme and don’t forget to promote it.
Below I’ve been looking globally and searched the world wide web (so you don’t have to) on exploring best practices in employee referral programs, which has revealed several successful strategies across various organisations.
Here are some notable examples:
Ideally, every program includes:
Incentives – Cash or non-cash such as extra holidays, dinner for two, cinema tickets or even just a simple thank you.
Ease of use – Try to make the use of your employee referral program as easy as possible for your people.
Feedback – As always, keep your employees posted on the status of their referrals. Did their candidate move forward in the hiring process? Drop them a quick email or message.
Recognition – Praise is good for employee morale. Think of a nice way to give your employees the recognition they deserve when they’ve successfully referred someone.
The above case studies highlight the importance of creativity, cultural alignment, diversity focus, and leveraging technology in designing effective employee referral programs. Tailoring incentives and strategies to align with company values and goals can significantly enhance the success of such programs.
By learning from these global examples, organisations can refine their referral programs to better align with their workforce and hiring needs. Whether it’s offering creative incentives, fostering an inclusive approach, or making the process seamless, a well-executed referral scheme can be a game-changer for talent acquisition.
Download our FREE Employee Referral Program Policy and Guidelines Template
Craig Watson & Rachel Hill care deeply about the Talent Acquisition Industry in Australia, and we recognise the essential need for improving the standards and professionalism within our sector. Currently, the industry does not have formalised professional qualifications. This gap not only limits career development but also impacts our ability to access training to enhance key skills.
The TA industry is critical for business success. However, without structured training and qualifications, TAs in Australia are missing essential pathways offered to other professions. According to the Productivity Commission’s ‘Shifting the Dial: 5 Year Productivity Review‘, substantial improvements in training and qualifications are integral for Australia’s future economic growth.
Therefore, this petition calls on ASQA to endorse formalised qualifications (in the form of Certificate IV & Diploma) for TAs, developed by the industry, for the industry. Such a system will enhance career development and the overall professionalism within our industry, consequently improving our contribution to Australia’s business landscape and Craig Watson and Rachel Hill are committed to driving this change.
We need your support. Sign this petition, and let’s elevate the TA industry together. Together, we can create a difference in the lives of every TA in Australia, providing qualifications, a clear career pathway, and skills to improve the professionalism of our sector.
Share this petition in person or use the QR code for your own material. Download QR code
Looking to grow your TA Community? Don’t know where to start? Don't worry, you are not alone - there are heaps of things going on with Recruitment Meet Up Groups in every city around Australia, plus Tas Talent Day, held in Tasmania every October.
As the demand for top talent increases, so does the importance of effective talent strategies. That's why we've created a community meetup specifically for Adelaide's Talent professionals.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/adelaide-talent-meetup/posts/
Where talent acquisition professionals and recruiters gather to collaborate, discuss the latest industry trends, share insights, and network with industry peers. https://www.linkedin.com/company/brissy-recruitment-meet-up/posts
Our group aims to bring People professionals together to share knowledge, ideas, and experiences. Whether you're an internal recruiter, talent manager, HR professional, this is your place to connect and evolve.
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14516231/
A private LinkedIn Networking Group for all Melbourne based recruitment professionals.
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3042689
Join a TA community of 1000’s of peers who understand the unique challenges you face. Speak freely and find the support you need through positivity, kindness and practical advice.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/rubberbandforum/
Devoted to creating and furthering a community of recruiters, HR and businesses for purposes of networking, exchanging best practices, professional development and promoting the field of modern recruiting.
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7020964/
Focusing exclusively on the in-house talent, TA and HR community. We enable professional development in a friendly and informal, confidential environment to help people build their own network and gain the knowledge they need to be successful in their careers.
https://www.talent-table.com/events
Tas Talent Day brings talent advisory professionals together for a day of inspiring and informing discussion. The event is centred around providing a positive and engaging candidate experience
Email Kylie.Cashion@tasnetworks.com.au for details
Tru is an unconference. An unconventional meeting of minds and innovations for the talent, HR and recruitment community.
https://www.talent-table.com/tru
Your TA Community - Download
Download our handy list of Recruitment Meet Up Groups to build your TA Community. It also contains our suggestions on who in the industry to follow online. Download now
I’m always also happy to share recruitment expertise, along with best practices, tips, and tricks to maximise efficiency. If you haven’t already, please sign up to our monthly newsletter The Recruitment Revolution.
If you’d like a chat, we can schedule a quick call to brainstorm ideas and strategies. Book a slot at a time that suits you via Calendly.
We are running a TA Fundamentals training program for those new to HR / Recruitment. Maybe for someone in your team?
We only run one of these a year in Tasmania, so if you have someone new in your HR or TA team or just started doing Recruitment but never had any formal training - it’s a great chance to come along and learn the fundamentals. Including the law and D&I considerations, interviewing and questioning techniques and so much more.
If you’d like to book, please call Rachel on 0403 899 083 or email rachel@hillconsultinghrs.com.au asap to secure your place/s - and we can issue an invoice.
Online booking link coming soon.
Full content details (plus info on bonus materials not included on our other courses) see https://hillconsultinghrs.com.au/.../ta-fundamentals.../.
or download the program flyer here: https://hillconsultinghrs.com.au/.../TA-Fundamentals...
Thursday 6th March 2025, 9am to 5pm
C3 Church Conference Centre (South Hobart) so easy parking.
This is a great opportunity for those new to TA, and to meet others in TA from different industries. See you there.
Many managers claim they know the STAR interviewing technique (many actually don't know it at all) but we've seen it done wrong or poorly over the years.
Our tops tips for the STAR techniques is:
The answers and insights (evidence) will be surprising. Helps you sort the wheat from the chaff (or, out the bullsh***ers).
If you want to help your Hiring Managers become more skilled at this technique—understanding why it’s effective, how it works, and how to design the best questions and interview structure, contact us to arrange an initial chat about our training programs.
Here’s why:
Get in touch today if you'd like to discuss how your organisation can benefit from Skills Based Hiring.
Did you know that when we meet a new person, we formulate an opinion on them in the first 30 seconds?
So ultimately, we are making a judgement on them (and their ability to do the job) on what they are wearing or how they look. In recruitment circles we call this "Halo Horns".
It's very dangerous and also allows for unconscious bias to creep into the interview or screening. It also means we are judging someone superficially on their hair, their tie, shoes or even ethnicity!!
For example some people have halo horns with a surname (make a judgment). Are your hiring managers prone to making quick judgments, which bear no relation to the person's abilities or experience. It's why we might want to move to blind CVs.
Can you think of a time you've witnessed Halo Horns at interview where a candidate was pre-judged by a Hiring Manager and its hard to get past this "bias" later in the interview?
Learn more about Halo Horns on one of our TA Fundamentals Training courses or Hiring Manager Recruitment Skills programs.
Our MD, Rachel was recently at a business launch with lots of high-flying business contacts. One senior manager turned to her and said, “well it’s about time we got everyone back in the office”. Nice sentiment she thought but they just don’t understand the market…
Rachel had to explain a bit further.
So, the “War for Talent” is real. It really is a buyers’ market – by which we mean employees have the power, in terms of supply and demand. They are in demand, and there is very little supply (due to a wave of baby boomers retiring, more 65-year-olds than ever before since 2020). So, anyone left in the workplace with skills and experience will be getting multiple job offers if they look (even if they are not looking, they will be approached). Even school leavers with very little experience (those Gen Z aged 16 to 20) will all be getting six offers each…. So why come and work for you?
This means in a very competitive marketplace – you’ll need to be flex. A global survey conducted at the end of last year, by Mercer found that the number one priority of workers globally was flexibility. Covid and working from home has also extended this request.
So, in order to attract (and keep) the best you will need to be flex.
Yes, this means many workers will be seeking some work from home v days in the office flexible working options. It might also mean offering flexitime, like a 9-day fortnight, job share, or part-time hours. Flex might just secure you the best talent in the marketplace. We have a client where they all work from home (anywhere on the Eastern seaboard of Australia) and just go in one day a month…
If not offering flex hours or working conditions – they might just walk (and they can) right into another job. Maybe with your competitors? So, in the war for talent. Yes FLEX. Put it on your job adverts. Think of creative ways you can offer this – school hours only (10am to 2pm) no Friday afternoons for early starts, job share with a co-worker.
In the war for talent, you need to get strategic, and this is one way to keep up or stay ahead of the competition (at no extra cost). Those that don’t flex – we will see their workers leave. Or they won’t join you for a better offer with more “flexible conditions”.
In a tight marketplace you need to think strategically.
The first is that it can be illegal. You can’t just hire someone on gender alone, even if it is to address a gender imbalance in your industry or workplace. Not even just because you want to. There are Federal and State Laws re discrimination and, so no, you cannot hire on gender alone. Unless of course, you have applied for and gained an exemption (for specific gender-based role or team – think Prison Correctional Officer) under your State Act. So, gender can’t be the deciding factor, and recruitment must be based on merit (you want the best applicant for the role). Not on any of the 22 possible discrimination attributes covered under State and Federal laws.
They are usually just not female friendly workplaces. Remember, women in the workplace still do the majority of domestic chores and care giving at home. In fact, they carry out about 70% of domestic duties compared to their male counterparts (42%) on average (ABS). Whether that is domestic duties like shopping or childcare, or looking after ageing parents, even ageing in-laws. You can check out the stats here ABS website.
In sociology, this is known as the "Double Burden." Many workplaces still fail to offer female-friendly or flexible work environments. We've spoken to several hiring managers who insist that roles cannot be job-shared, must maintain strict 9-to-5 hours, or require a five-day workweek. There are no options for flexible schedules, part-time work, or school-hour shifts, and some jobs involve unsociable hours. Even small details like a lack of female restrooms, absence of parent rooms, or a "blokey" culture—where office footy tipping is common but outings to the theatre or ballet are overlooked—contribute to this imbalance.
It could be arbitrary requirements like asking for "15 years of experience" in an engineering role or counting the number of academic papers published to become a professor—criteria that often put parents, especially mothers, five years behind their male counterparts due to time taken for childcare. Another issue is the lack of affordable or free parking in many city centres after 8:30 a.m. (the early bird parking deals are often gone by then). This timeframe coincides with when most parents, especially those with limited childcare options, are doing school drop-offs. As a result, parking alone can become prohibitively expensive—up to $150 a week—which is particularly burdensome for a single mum/dad.
Or maybe it’s just that “blokey” environment again and the job descriptions and adverts are written in a male language (it’s a thing - check out Textio for a more neutral language in your position descriptions and job adverts).
These barriers to hire are real and can mean that someone (women) just can’t take the job with you (even though they are brilliant in your field).
It's time to flex your thinking! To attract more women into your workplace you might just need to take a long hard look at your culture and your facilities. Are you really flex? What could be done differently, and would open the door to so many more great candidate applications? Dads have carer responsibilities too.
One client told us that they didn’t have any women in a particular technical team because 1. Women don’t want to work nights! And 2. It was unsafe to walk to the car park after dark (well I say...work it out).
It’s not about having a policy: with mixed gender on interview panels, it’s about having a flexible attitude, women friendly culture and benefits and flex in the work environment and mean it. If women can be in the Army, a mine site, a nurse, a doctor, a police officer, I am sure they can work night shifts. Or someone can walk them to their car? To encourage women into the work place you need to live it breath it. And – maybe even change!
To find out more check out websites like Work180 who endorse women friendly workplaces. You’ll see their logo on job adverts and the bottom of Recruiter emails. Think also about paid time off, paid maternity, women in the executive team, pay equity, career development, policies and support. Women will be checking these things out about you. Also remember to advertise where the women hang out (fish where they fish are).
A final question to all our female colleges – as a woman in the workplace, and good in your chosen profession - was there ever a barrier to hire that stopped you taking a job? That the employer could have easily changed - but just could not see – or be flexible and change for you – like hours, parking, job share, resources/ pay?
We'd love to hear what you think - please return to the Facebook post and share your thoughts with us.
