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Hiring hasn’t slowed, it just feels less straightforward than it used to.
Roles shift mid-search, priorities evolve and what looks like a clear brief at the start often looks different two months later.
We sat down with Joseph Withers and Charlene Teed, Co-Founders of HighlightTA, to understand what’s breaking down and what the companies getting it right are doing differently.
Key takeaways:
- Hiring challenges are often driven by misalignment rather than talent gaps
- Speed, skill and cost remain a trade-off, not a package deal
- Adaptability is becoming a stronger hiring signal than perfect experience
It’s Not A Talent Shortage. It’s A Clarity Problem.
Many hiring managers walk into a search with the same assumption: layoffs have moved through tech for the past two years, candidates are everywhere and finding great people should be easier than before.
The reality is more nuanced.
The market no longer moves in one direction. Some companies are hiring aggressively before suddenly pausing. Others are restructuring around AI, financial pressure and shifting priorities. Roles evolve quickly and job descriptions often struggle to keep pace.
One of the biggest assumptions Charlene sees is that strong talent is simply available and waiting.
“Top talent is engaged and actively working for their companies. They are less inclined than ever to make a move given the current market and its stability. To get them interested, they need to be attracted by a solid employer brand.”
Where Things Break Down
When hiring becomes urgent, alignment is often the first thing to slip.
Headcount gets approved, priorities shift and teams move into execution before everyone is clear on what success actually looks like. Job descriptions get interpreted differently and people start searching for different versions of the same role.
Joseph sees a familiar tension sit underneath many searches.
“If you look at hiring as a whole, it’s speed, skill and cost. Those are the three factors. You can’t have all three. If you are looking for all three, you’re basically unicorn hunting.”
The teams that move quickly without compromising quality tend to do something less obvious first. They slow down long enough to calibrate. Expectations are aligned early, trade-offs are surfaced and everyone agrees on what matters most before the search begins.
It can feel slower at the outset. In practice, it’s often the fastest path forward.
The Models Most Companies Rely On Aren’t Working
When hiring stops working, most companies move in one of two directions. They bring in an agency or build a larger internal function. Joseph and Charlene have seen both models from the inside and neither is without trade-offs.
Agencies can become expensive quickly, particularly for growing teams hiring at scale. Internal teams create a different challenge. Capacity often expands during periods of growth and becomes harder to sustain when hiring slows.
Joseph has seen that pattern repeatedly.
“If you build out a really big internal team and then in four months you don’t have the roles to support it, that fixed overhead becomes a liability. An optimized talent function needs to ride the hiring waves and plug in when you’re hiring and plug out when you’re not.”
The Inefficiency Nobody Talks About
Even with good intentions, hiring processes often break down in predictable ways. Candidates move confidently through two or three rounds only to stall at the panel stage. Earlier conversations created activity but not necessarily signal.
Being excellent at your own work does not automatically mean you know how to evaluate someone else for it.
Joseph describes hiring as a side quest for many startup leaders and the observation gets to the centre of the issue.
“You’re so in the weeds doing your own job. It’s almost like when it comes to hiring, you have to pull your head out to be able to do it.”
The One Fix That Changes Everything
Strip it back and the answer often comes down to alignment.
Getting clear on success, understanding what the market can realistically offer and deciding where flexibility exists may be one of the highest-value conversations a team can have. It is also one of the first things companies rush through.
That is where time disappears. It is where costs increase. It is also one of the easiest things to improve.
Know When To Lead & When To Let Go
The first forty hires shape almost everything. They influence culture, decision-making and how teams work together. Early on, founders should stay close. As companies scale, staying involved in every hiring decision can create bottlenecks.
Joseph does not hesitate when asked about one of the most common things that derails a great hire.
“I just want to see one more candidate.”
The first group of candidates often reflects the strongest talent available. The deeper teams move into the process, the greater the chance that top candidates disappear.
Wanting to see more can look like diligence. Often it is hesitation in disguise.
Hiring For What Comes Next
AI dominates hiring conversations right now. Joseph is more interested in what sits underneath it and how it quietly reshapes teams and the work itself.
“What parts of these jobs can be done by AI? What do we actually need a human doing?”
The people who thrive in that environment will not necessarily be the ones with the most polished resumes. They will be the people energized by change and curious enough to adapt alongside it.
What Separates The Companies That Get It Right
Every hire carries consequence. Not just the cost of the search itself but the time lost, disruption created and impact of getting it wrong.
The companies building strong teams understand that. They invest in alignment before a search starts, work from a realistic view of the market and approach hiring with intention rather than urgency.
Charlene sees another instinct emerging that deserves challenging.
“If someone already has absolutely everything in the job description, they’re probably not going to last long because they’re already looking at their next move.”
Hiring for potential has always been smart. With roles evolving faster than ever, it may be becoming even more important.
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