If you’re here, you know recruitment and retention is a challenge. Going into 2025, almost 60% of employers say the economy will impact the way they hire.
To win qualified candidates on a limited budget, hiring teams are taking steps to elevate their recruiting strategies. But where should you start? Today we’re breaking down the latest trends to help you attract and retain top talent.
Top 5 recruitment and retention strategies
The data is clear: tight budgets are a challenge for hiring teams. From inflation and skills gaps to changes in AI, automation, and the political environment, modern recruitment teams are navigating a host of challenges in an effort to win potential candidates.
So how can you come out ahead? Here are the top 5 trends and strategies to attract qualified candidates in a changing work environment.
1. Putting employee retention at the core of the recruitment strategy
Year after year, finding candidates remains the biggest challenge for hiring teams. But according to the data, finding candidates that stay may be the key difference. More than half of employers (54%) say there simply aren’t enough qualified candidates and more than a third of companies say keeping them is a challenge.
With pressure to compete for the same talent using fewer resources, hiring teams need to be smart about strategies that don’t just bring new hires in, but also keep them around. By identifying candidates whose values align with your own, you can organically reduce employee turnover and increase long-term retention rates.
“Extending a job offer is just the beginning of an employee's journey with your organization,” writes organizational psychologist Sandy Costa for Forbes. “Similar to the recruitment myth, a common mistake is waiting until a new employee is on the team to focus on retention strategies. They're actually essential to the hiring process because a key component of retention is alignment between an employee's values and the organization's.”
For experts like Sandy, transparency is key to job satisfaction. Start at the beginning by stating exactly who you are as a company and what’s expected from the role. If expensive benefits and recruitment ads aren’t in the budget, focus on optimizing your company culture and employer value proposition to attract the right team members, starting with a career page that clearly states what's in it for candidates.
Keep in mind that incentives like remote work and work-from-home (WFH) opportunities are one of the most cost-effective perks you can provide and the second most common recruitment tool among employers.
2. Understanding when to use and when NOT to use AI
According to research, companies are eager to keep the AI momentum going, with almost 90% of C-suite leaders planning to speed up AI adoption this year. But when it comes to AI in human resources, not all use cases are created equal.
“This year, it’s about seeing HR go beyond the basics and helping HR teams get more creative and impactful,” says Lucy Adams in a recent episode of the HR Disrupted podcast. Recruitment success in 2025 is about doing more with less and while AI feels naturally suited to that mission, the truth is it still feels like a solution in search of a problem for many hiring teams.
Despite years of hype around AI and automation, 39% of hiring teams say the recruiting process is too manual or time-consuming and almost 1 in 4 say they have difficulty tracking candidates.
AI can be fun to play with. But there’s no point spending a week tinkering around creating recruitment marketing assets in Midjourney, only to force candidates through an application process that’s slow and unresponsive. In 2025, hiring teams with efficient candidate management systems in place will be better positioned to get real ROI on AI skills and competencies.
3. Staying true to your values
Gen Z makes up the most diverse generation of the workforce. And according to Deloitte, 77% of them want to work for a company whose values align with their own. While companies like McDonald's, Meta, and Walmart are stepping back, organizations that have committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are holding true to their values.
For major employer brands like Costco, Microsoft, and Adobe, DEI will remain business as usual, even if that means rebranding their initiatives to reduce legal risks. Programs vary from company to company, but organizations that see real results from their inclusion programs aren’t going to stop now.
“Employers understand that if they’ve expressed their values and their commitment to their employees, that is something that matters to retain talent,” said Vicky Slade, lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine, in a recent article for the New York Times.
While no one knows exactly what will come next, it’s important to stay informed and ready to protect your recruitment efforts and strategies for retaining employees. Seek out legal counsel, educate your hiring team on the many types of diversity, and use diversity job boards to expand your talent pool.
4. Getting serious about agile recruiting and onboarding
Agile recruiting is one of those HR buzzwords that tends to make the rounds every few years. But in a hiring climate where everyone’s stretching their budgets to compete for the same pool of candidates, you can’t afford to let an outdated process hold you back.
With an agile recruiting strategy, you can adapt your hiring process to give candidates what they want while automating the manual work that eats up your time – including all the tasks that make up your onboarding process.
The data found that a third of hiring managers say lack of a structured process is the main reason for their onboarding challenges, but the majority are still using a patchwork system of email and shared docs to onboard new hires. Less than half use employee onboarding software and 46% use spreadsheets and/or manual tracking.
Every great employee experience starts with great onboarding. To boost new hire retention, look for ways to integrate and streamline the onboarding process – and be warned, this may mean removing steps instead of adding new ones.
5. Starting employee retention efforts from day one
Imagine working for days to connect with a highly qualified candidate, only to drop the ball in onboarding. Hiring teams need to know how an employee is performing in their first 90 days in a role, but according to the research, 40% wish it were easier to track new hire progress.
The seeds of employee satisfaction are sown long before a candidate becomes a new hire. And with increased pressure on budgets, having a clear job description isn’t enough to win loyal employees. Moving forward, employers will be expected to go beyond the career page to deliver clearly defined training and professional development opportunities.
To transform qualified candidates into loyal employees, take the time to help each individual perform at their best. And remember, there’s more than one path to career development.
For example, mentorships, internal talent marketplaces, and regular opportunities to engage are just a few of the budget-friendly strategies that can help you retain employees as markets shift.
Give candidates a better experience with Breezy HR
Employee engagement is about so much more than filling vacancies. To recruit and retain the qualified candidates you need, focus on what you can control – developing thoughtful tools and processes to support your employees at every stage of the recruitment, onboarding and engagement process.
To drive employee loyalty and stop high turnover rates before they start, level up your support systems to include strategies that prioritize trust, open communication and shared values. By showing up consistently for your team members, you can rest assured that they’ll do the same for you.
Take your staffing strategies to new heights. Try Breezy HR free for 14 days, or download the Hiring Challenges Report for more insights from employers like you.
