The new terrain in tech talent
24 Jun 2025
Seven shifts executive leaders need to navigate
By Michael Patterson, Executive: Technology Staffing for HelloKindred
The global tech talent playbook is being rewritten in real time. As AI redefines job roles faster than 70% of CHROs can keep up and geopolitics reroutes sourcing hubs, experienced tech and digital professionals are growing scarcer, even as demand for their skills ramps up. The numbers bear this out – 75% of IT employers globally report difficulty finding the right skills and in the UK alone, hiring volumes in the tech sector are expected to decrease by 57% in Q2 2025 compared to Q1.
We’re not just facing a temporary skills gap; we’re entering a period of systemic change in how and where tech talent is acquired, evaluated and engaged. This function may sit with HR, but the implications of these shifts are now a strategic concern for CEOs, CFOs, CIOs and anyone involved in driving growth, innovation or transformation.
This article breaks down seven global trends that are currently shaping tech talent acquisition now through 2027 – and what executive teams can do today to keep ahead of the curve.
What lies ahead isn’t a single trend, but a cluster of interconnected shifts that, over the next 18 to 24 months, will change the face of the global tech workforce. The shifts will likely affect how and where talent is sourced, which skills are viewed as valuable and how organizations will have to adapt their permanent, contingent and automated workforce models.
Executive leaders will want to shift focus accordingly, from optimizing headcount to adapting workforce strategies that meet new technologies, geographies and expectations.
Trend 1: From skills gap to talent crisis – the scarcity of mid-senior tech talent
Companies have been talking for years about a digital skills shortage, but we’re entering an acute phase characterized by dwindling supplies of mid-to-senior professionals who can architect, lead and scale complex tech initiatives. In the UK, headlines speak of “the great stay” as the market sees a sharp contraction in tech candidates’ movements, accompanied by a shrinking pool of senior financial services tech roles in key markets. Gartner calls it an “expertise supply crisis” – as older professionals retire and AI disrupts learning pathways, businesses are taking longer to fill critical roles and relying more and more on consulting firms to plug the gaps.
This is a problem that extends way beyond our HR and Talent Acquisition teams. For those leading transformation efforts, timelines and budgets may be disrupted not through gaps in your strategy, but by gaps in your hiring. Forward-looking employers are building internal pipelines, investing in early-career hires, re-skilling existing employees and re-engaging alumni with expertise.
Trend 2: Say goodbye to talent without borders
We’re watching the unfolding of new “talent geopolitics” as countries retool immigration policies to attract or protect digital skills, especially in AI and cybersecurity, with the result that global talent flows are becoming both less predictable and more political. UK tech vacancies dropped by 11% in 2024, while the US market grew 7%, signaling that policy and economic climate are shaping where talent goes. And while firms still talk about “global” hiring, work permits and the risks inherent in relocating and regulatory bottlenecks are making it harder in practice.
If your recruitment strategy relies too heavily on one geography or visa pathway, you could find your firm short of talent just when you need to scale. Leading firms are building sourcing hubs in emerging markets like South Africa, India and Eastern Europe, streamlining mobility processes and partnering with local experts to diversify talent flow.
Trend 3: AI has entered the chat and is deepening its involvement daily
From sourcing and screening to onboarding and engagement, AI has for quite some time now been embedded throughout the talent acquisition lifecycle. What began as an experiment rapidly become entrenched and is now expected. These days, technologies like generative AI and autonomous AI agents are already being used to summarize CVs, assess candidate fit and generate outreach comms, while firms are fast-tracking AI investment in HR to boost efficiency and offset rising costs.
Used appropriately, AI can indeed enhance candidates’ experience, reduce bias and speed up hiring… whilst employers work assiduously to minimize compliance violations, missed or wrongly excluded talent and brand damage. Executive teams need to ensure that the AI tools they use for Talent Acquisition are explainable, ethically trained and continually checked by humans (human-in-the-loop).
Trend 4: Hiring for skills, not schools
University degrees no longer dominate criteria for the right hire. Across sectors, employers are placing more emphasis on real-world capabilities, especially in fast-moving areas like AI, Data and Cybersecurity. With demand outpacing supply in these and other spheres (engineering, machine learning and the like), traditional qualification filters and out-screeners are softening all the time. Simulation-based and performance-driven assessments are increasingly taking a leading role in the hiring process.
With roles changing faster than syllabi can keep up, employers are having to widen the funnel significantly. But casting a broader net opens the door to a new problem: how to accurately and fairly assess real capability at scale.
It’s worth noting that this trend is a win for inclusion, particularly when supported with robust frameworks that ensure consistency and the elimination of unconscious bias in hiring decisions. Leading organizations are redesigning job descriptions to focus on outcomes, implementing simulation-based assessments and partnering with hiring managers to separate essential skills from legacy requirements.
Trend 5: Employer brand is your newest strategic asset
In our saturated hiring markets, candidates aren’t just comparing salaries; they’re looking at criteria such as your culture, leadership visibility, publicly available content and its tone, flexibility and impact. Powerfully crafted, inspiring employer brands are proving to be key differentiators.
Workplace culture and environment are top priorities for tech candidates, and aligning your Employee Value Proposition with candidates’ expectations is crucial to attract talent, especially among Gen Z’ers. This focus on purpose and culture makes brand perception a key factor in both attraction and retention. If you haven’t refreshed your EVP since hybrid working became the norm – or if it sounds exactly like everyone else’s – you may already be falling behind. High-performing organizations co-create EVP messaging with their employees, localize it for key markets and use storytelling and employee advocacy to make it tangible and persuasive.
Trend 6: Looking inward first – the internal mobility strategy
External hiring pipelines are under pressure. Tech roles are evolving fast. In response, more organizations are prioritizing internal mobility both to retain talent and to deploy it where it matters most.
Seventy percent of tech leaders are leading with internal mobility in 2025, enabled by career pathing, upskilling and transparency, while many firms are pausing external hiring altogether while they reassess internal capabilities. But to work, this strategy must be implemented properly – steering clear of patchy systems, vague pathways and unsupportive line managers.
If your best talent can’t see their future inside your company, they’ll go elsewhere and you’ll have to rehire for skills you already had. To strengthen retention and stoke internal mobility, leaders are investing in internal talent marketplaces, creating structured career paths for technical roles and rewarding managers who support internal moves.
Trend 7: The rise of the elastic workforce
As transformation projects accelerate, more companies are ratcheting up their elastic workforces, their contractors, freelancers and gig talent – not as a stopgap, but as a core component of their comprehensive workforce model. This is particularly true of the public sector and big tech, but other industries are not far behind. Contingent hiring is up while perm hiring plans are flat or down as labor costs and evolving project timelines push businesses to lean more on flexible resourcing.
But while flexible talent enables agility, it can also fragment culture and complicate compliance where it’s not properly managed. Executive teams are investing in better integration of freelance platforms, building preferred supplier frameworks and standardizing onboarding to make sure that all talent, contingent and perm, feel part of your tribe.
What should executive teams do next?
Taken together, these trends require more than just tweaks to Talent Acquisition. They demand a critical rethink of how organizations build, retain and mobilize capacity. Executive teams have a critical role to play in setting that direction.
1. Break the silos – make talent a cross-functional agenda
Workforce planning needs the attention of more than just HR. Business leaders, technology heads and finance teams need to work together on location strategies, budget allocations and skills forecasting.
2. Design for adaptability as well as efficiency
Rigid role structures may struggle to make it through the next wave of transformation. Revisit job architecture, build internal talent marketplaces and integrate contingent models into your core workforce strategy.
3. Invest as urgently in talent infrastructure as in tech infrastructure
The roll out new infrastructure involves intentional strategy, governance and change management. The same goes for AI in hiring, global sourcing and skills-based assessment. Make sure you lay those foundations first.
The next phase of digital transformation won’t be led by tech alone; it’ll be powered by the people who build, secure and scale it. In a tightening market, how you attract, develop and deploy tech talent will increasingly define your organization’s ability to compete. The companies that win in 2027 are the ones planning for it already by building resilient, responsive talent strategies that evolve alongside the technology they support.
At HelloKindred, we bring a distinctly human touch to technology staffing. We partner with high-performing clients to help them execute their people strategies with speed, precision and impact. With immediate access to an extensive network of top-tier technology professionals worldwide, we connect businesses with skilled, engaged talent that accelerates delivery and enhances impact.
Our dynamic staffing models integrate remote, contingent and blended talent solutions that give you the agility to scale seamlessly. Our extended networks and deep domain expertise streamline talent acquisition, ensuring the right fit, faster.
