Dear Recruiter

Welcome to 2025. And welcome to January, where it’s out with the annual roundup and in with forecasts and predictions.

A couple caught my eye this week:

• ”Even as hiring ramps up again, the demand for recruiters won’t rebound. Instead, companies are doubling down on automation and leaning heavily on hiring managers to fill the gaps.” Johnny Campbell
• “'Chief Automation Officer' becomes an industry talking point in 2025, same as Chief Diversity Officer in 2020.” Hung Lee

These struck me, especially when you combine them with the fact that back at October’s Gartner Symposium/Xpo, VP analyst Arun Chandrasekaran declared we’re sliding into the trough of disillusionment for AI:

“The technologies are sufficiently advancing. But they’re not advancing fast enough to keep up with the lofty expectations enterprise leaders have today.”

No one is denying AI’s potential or its inevitable integration into work. But while the early adopters push on, you need productivity gains now. And that’s where automation comes in.

It’s a proven technology that can make a huge difference to shrinking teams facing growing workloads.

?? Data Point: RecruitmentTrends

Data and insights direct from the Pinpoint team

With so many processes in TA, how do you know where to start with automation?

Analyze average time in stage. You could do this by each stage of your hiring workflow, or you might group them into types, like review, interview, assessment.

Combine this with candidate feedback and pass-through rate, and you’ll have a prioritized list of bottlenecks.

You can then make the case to invest in an automation project by looking at time to hire.

Plot your performance against your industry peers over on RecruitmentTrends. (As a reminder, the bars show you how much variation there is in each role type.)

If you trend towards the maximum, this in itself is a powerful story for leadership. You’re likely losing top talent to competitors. And you're likely struggling to meet headcount to plan. All of which puts leadership's strategic priorities at risk.

Even if you trend towards the minimum there’s still a case to improve. Industries reliant on high-volume recruitment especially are in a tight race for a shrinking talent pool. In this environment, 'good enough' will struggle to deliver.

??? Talent Talks - with Phil Strazzulla

Quick fire questions to get to know leading recruiters

In this latest Talent Talks, I chat with Phil Strazzulla , Founder of SelectSoftware Reviews. I’ve known Phil a few years and he is always full of useful, practical insights. This chat was no different.

It’s hard to single out one highlight—I heartily recommend you check out the whole video—but here’s one stat Phil shared from his recent trends report.

We found that like 42% of people have to work more than their typical hours, just to tread water. And so that’s a huge theme. They’ve got too much going on.

It’s a classic catch-22. You’re too busy to improve your processes because your processes are too slow.

You have two options. Stay stuck in the hamster wheel, at risk of eventually being replaced by AI. Or, take the hit of a little extra pain in the short term to pull back control of your time and your future by reviewing your tools and technology. (I know which I’d choose).

Listen to the full episode here.

?? The Pinboard

What's new in recruitment?

• ???You can find SelectSoftware Reviews quarterly HR Tech trends reports that Phil and I mention in Talent Talks over on their site. They’re always a useful read.
• ?? Speaking of predictions and trends, Matchr has released its annual trends report. This brings together talent leaders and industry influencers to share their thoughts on the crucial question, “What is the most significant recruitment trend shaping 2025?”
• ?? Joe Atkinson also asked TA leaders about their 2025 predictions. You can see what he found in his two-part LinkedIn posts: part one and part two.
• ??? Last month Tech On Toast released a podcast rather aptly titled ‘AI vs Automation: What’s the difference?’ It looks at the ability of AI and automation to not only streamline processes but create a more supportive, happier workplace too.

??? Merseyrail revolutionizes hiring manager engagement

From the Pinpoint team

Automations are great for productivity, but they’re also great for getting hiring managers engaged.

The more of the nitty gritty you can take off hiring managers' plates, the more likely they are to see hiring as a valuable process (rather than a time suck).

As Rosy R. from Merseyrail says, the response you want from hiring managers is:

“Oh, this actually is really seamless!”

You can learn more about how Merseyrail revolutionized its hiring manager engagement here.

There’s no doubt 2025 is going to remain tough for TA. But as the saying goes, tough times create strong people, and strong people create good times.

Stay strong, stay strategic, and we’ll be with you every step of the way. Let’s go. ??

As always, for any insights or feedback, you can email me at? [email protected]

All the best,

Tom Hacquoil

Pinpoint CEO