2025 Recruiting and Onboarding Trends

According to data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the country continues to face a persistent labor shortage. As many as 80% (4 in 5) of employers reported issues with talent acquisition in 2024, which has led to abnormally long vacancies across a number of critical roles.

Facing challenges with recruiting and onboarding can easily slow your company down and cause you to miss out on (or struggle to retain) top talent. But the good news is that 2025 is shaping up to be a year of strategic improvement for HR professionals. Several emerging trends are helping them overcome the current talent shortage and create more efficient processes for finding, engaging, and recruiting talent.

Consider how the following hiring trends can help you gain greater control of your hiring and onboarding processes and ensure your HR function supports company growth:

Focusing on Passive Talent

It can be challenging (and frustrating) to scour job sites for the perfect role just to end up competing with other businesses for the same talent. One way that you can beat out the competition is by engaging passive talent: those who aren’t actively looking for roles but may still be open to a change if the right offer comes along. There’s often less competition for these types of candidates, as it takes a bit more work and ingenuity to recruit them.

To help your team attract and engage passive candidates, you should first work on building a strong and attractive employer brand that would compel someone to want to work for your company. Additionally, you can leverage professional networking platforms like LinkedIn, in-person networking events, and even employee referral programs to reach out and gain access to these candidates.

Using Skills-Based Hiring

In early 2024, reports emerged that one in three companies planned to get rid of degree requirements for open roles. While degrees can certainly be useful for preparing students for the workforce, many HR leaders are finding that skills-based hiring offers better insight into which candidates actually have what it takes to hit the ground running and find success in the role.

For you, this trend may mean considering candidates without degrees who have attended boot camps or engaged with other practical training initiatives. You may also want to consider those who have proven their skills through volunteer work or side projects. Doing so can open you up to a more diverse candidate pool and allow you to attract talented and innovative candidates that other companies are overlooking.

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Efficiency

Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools are becoming more valuable in the HR space. The emerging technology is now capable of doing everything from using predictive analytics to evaluate and rank resumes to conducting hands-free video interviews to speed up the hiring process.

When it comes to onboarding, AI can help you identify specific skills gaps for each candidate, ensure they get the training they need, and guide them through the process of setting up their technology and completing the necessary paperwork.

Making typically repetitive tasks more efficient can help your team save on recruitment costs, reduce time to hire, and create more room in the schedule for strategic HR tasks. That, coupled with a better and more efficient candidate experience, can allow you to take your HR function to the next level.

Strategic Implementation Can Help You Achieve Greater Success

While following trends won’t necessarily lead to greater success in HR on its own, it is nonetheless important to be aware of the direction the industry is going in and how you can leverage current trends to improve your current processes and decision-making.

If you’re looking for a strategic way to improve your HR function, AssetHR can help. As your partner in strategic human resources management, we can help you attract and retain top talent to move the business forward. We can also provide advisory and consulting services to help you implement current trends in a way that works for your employees and your organization as a whole.