The 2026 Talent Outlook
Hiring, retention and workforce design for the year ahead — the signals every talent leader should be watching.
Research, reports and thinking from our desk. We publish what we learn from the talent market — the trends, the data and the practical guidance to help you hire smarter and plan further ahead.
Our flagship annual report brings together data from across our global research desk: where the scarcest skills sit, how competitors are restructuring, what reward now looks like, and where representation is — and isn’t — moving. Essential reading for anyone planning their workforce for the year ahead.
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Hiring, retention and workforce design for the year ahead — the signals every talent leader should be watching.
How to tell a genuine skills shortage from a hiring process that simply isn’t working — and what to do about each.
Where demand is outrunning supply across sectors, and what it means for your workforce plan and reward strategy.
What a competitor’s org chart and hiring pattern quietly tell you — and how to read the moves before they happen.
What you really pay for with a contingency fee — and where research-led sourcing changes the maths.
How to keep a talent pipeline warm, engaged and ready — so the next open role is filled in weeks, not months.
Practical, evidence-based ways to widen representation before the interview — without lowering the bar.
Where key skills are concentrating, what talent costs across hubs, and how to choose a site on evidence.
What stale contact data quietly does to a recruitment desk — and the discipline that fixes it.
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Our published insights are just the start. Talk to us about a bespoke study for your sector.