What 2024 Taught Us About Hiring and Retention for 2025
Team Engine
Employers of choice use Team Engine to recruit, retain, engage and improve their field workforces.
How businesses navigated hiring and retention challenges—and the strategies shaping 2025.
2024 brought many challenges to hiring and employee retention across industries. A low unemployment rate, rising labor costs, and a highly competitive job market left businesses rethinking how they attract and retain top talent.
To explore how organizations addressed these challenges, we consulted with industry leaders and gathered insights from our partners. Their strategies and lessons learned offer a valuable roadmap for businesses preparing for the year ahead.
Getting Creative with Benefits
With fewer candidates available and high employee turnover, many organizations had to think outside the box to secure new talent. Referral bonuses, revamped benefits, and flexible work arrangements became key differentiators.
"Experiential benefits can include anything that makes it easier for employees to do their job, interact with the company, or feel appreciated," said Pete Morelli, Partner at Holden Advisors.
"Examples could include the quality of your transportation fleet, tools, and equipment to enhance comfort. It could include streamlined processes or tools to give employees easy access to information they seek, communicate with managers, or make changes to their schedule. Even the cultural aspect of working with experienced co-workers without needing to constantly 'show the new guy the ropes' can save frustration for employees and make them feel part of a stable team."
Employers also recognized the importance of aligning benefits with employees' evolving needs.
"We have seen clients overhaul benefits plans to allow more non-traditional services such as flexible work arrangements, work life balance, tele-health and financial and wellness programs to both retain and attract team members," said Kathey Palmer , Chief Growth Officer at Inova .
Developing Talent From Within
In industries like construction and the skilled trades, finding talent with the necessary technical and soft skills was a particular challenge. To combat this, many businesses embraced apprenticeship programs to grow their talent pipeline and invested in rebranding the trades as rewarding career paths.
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For leadership roles, organizations focused on internal development. Structured career ladders and leadership training programs allowed companies to "build" leaders from within rather than relying solely on external hires.
"Many of our landscape clients experienced significant turnover in middle management positions in 2024. Paying generously for great performance is essential. Average pay for above average performance no longer works," said Greg Herring , CEO of The Herring Consulting Group .
Retention Through Culture and Well-Being
Retention strategies became more nuanced in 2024 as businesses realized that wages alone weren’t enough. Employers that emphasized a positive workplace culture—where employees feel valued and connected—were more successful at keeping their teams intact.
"My clients are focusing on cultivating strong, positive workplace cultures that make employees want to stay because they genuinely enjoy both the work and the people they work with," said Ed Laflamme LIC , Head Harvester at Harvest Group Landscape Business Consulting .
Key initiatives included:
Read the full article for more on these lessons, including additional insights from Tonya Schulte , Kelly Rowlett Presgrave , Jud Griggs , Alison A. Hoffman , Katie Magoon SPHR and SHRM-CP & Robin Mefford ??