Posted on: 12.11.2026
Candidates keep asking me what’s going on out there, and honestly, it’s a fair question. Two pieces of recent data seem counterintuitive at first, but I think they go some way to explaining it.
The KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs showed that permanent hiring fell again in October, after two brief months of growth, while the number of candidates looking for work rose for the 44th month in a row. ONS figures quoted in the report put vacancies at their lowest level in over five years, with employers delaying decisions and waiting to see what comes next. And yet more than half of private-sector employers still plan to recruit over the next three months, according to the CIPD’s latest Labour Market Outlook.
The interesting bit is that both of these things are true at the same time.
A Market Split in Two
What looks like a contradiction makes more sense when you split the market in two. The broad permanent hiring market, which includes volume roles, generalist functions and mid-level headcount, is truly frozen. The NI increases, the Budget uncertainty and residual caution from two years of economic turbulence are resulting in employers settling for doing more with less.
Why Senior Hires Still Happen
At the senior level, though, the dynamics are different. A business doesn’t stop replacing its Head of Corporate Affairs because employment costs went up. It doesn’t leave its Communications Director seat empty. These hires happen because they are critical. And in a tighter market, with fewer candidates willing to move and more scrutiny on every decision, they are much harder to get over the line.
What I’m seeing from where I sit bears this out. The searches I’m working on haven’t dried up, but they are taking longer with more interview rounds and more stakeholders getting involved than I’ve seen in years. Decisions are also taking longer, with clients feeling extremely hesitant about pulling the trigger for fear — or hope — that there could be someone better just around the corner.
Why the Best Candidates Are Staying Put
That’s fair enough, because when you’re one of the few businesses actually hiring at this level, you can be inundated with great talent. These businesses can’t afford to get it wrong either.
The issue is that when the broader market freezes, the best senior candidates stop moving too. They sit tight, hold onto whatever security they have and the pool gets smaller and harder to reach. A frozen market raises the stakes, and a good process versus a poor one can decide whether you get your person.
What This Means for You
So if you’re a candidate wondering why it feels so hard right now, you’re not imagining it. If you’re a business that needs to make a senior hire, don’t underestimate what it takes to get there.
The best candidates in this market aren’t sitting around waiting for you to see everyone on your list. They have options, they have security and the longer your process drags on, the more likely they are to stay put. The noise has died down, but the work hasn’t.
Allyson Kurian is an Associate Partner at Hanson Executive, a specialist executive search firm. She places senior communications and business leaders across the UK, Europe and the US.
Hanson Executive is the dedicated Board, C-suite and senior leadership search practice within the Hanson Search Group. With over 24 years of experience in senior appointments across industries and international markets, we focus on roles that shape a business’s direction and performance, from CEOs and Board members to executive committee and N-1 positions.
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