by Craig McGregor | Jul 7, 2025 | Business, Featured, Recruitment
2025 Recruitment Trends
Mid-Year Check-In
How to Use These Shifts to Your Advantage in the Second Half of the Year
We’re officially halfway through 2025 and the recruitment landscape continues to evolve at lightning speed. From shifts in candidate expectations to advance in hiring tech, the first six months of the year have revealed clear trends that savvy employers and job seekers should be paying attention to. At Hunter Recruitment Group, we’ve seen these changes firsthand across the Hunter region and beyond. Whether you’re hiring, job hunting, or planning your next move, here’s what trending and how to turn it into an opportunity for the second half of 2025!
Skill-based Hiring is Replacing Resume-based Hiring
What’s Happening: More employers are ditching rigid job descriptions in favour of focusing on transferable skills, real-world experience and culture add not just degrees and perfect CVs. Skill-based hiring focuses on demonstrable abilities, is a more reliable indicator of future job success than relying on resumes, job titles or educational credentials.
Use it to Your Advantage
- Employers: Revisit your job ads. Could you open them up to more diverse skillsets or non-traditional applicants?
- Job Seekers: Don’t downplay side projects, career changes, or volunteer work, these might be your ticket in
Employer Branding Matters More Than Ever
What’s Happening: Job seekers in 2025 want more than a job, they want purpose, flexibility and a workplace that aligns with their values. They’re researching you before you ever speak. Having a strong brand can also further help businesses stand out in a competitive job market, making them more appealing to candidates.
Use it to Your Advantage
- Employers: Refresh your online presence. What do your socials, Seek ads and website say about working for you?
- Job Seekers: Dig into company values before applying. If they align with yours, you’ll shine in interviews
Wage / Salary Level is More Important Than Ever
What’s Happening: The cost-of-living crisis experienced across Maitland and across Australia has impacted the employment market. With mobility of employee back to pre-pandemic numbers at HRG we are seeing a shift with a large percentage of individuals looking at change being driven by $$.
Use it to Your Advantage
- Employers: Advertising rates is now key with online ads the statistics show you get much higher traction with the salary level displayed. But also understand where you sit, do the research.
- Job Seekers: Employers are not seeking people who just want an increase in salary level so you still need to sell the skill and culture fit, but do your research understand your worth and work on your negotiations skills
Flexibility is the New Currency
What’s Happening: Remote work isn’t going away, but it’s evolving into a hybrid, personalised conversation. Flexibility around hours, location and even roles is key to attracting great people. This shift is driven by evolving employee expectations and a desire for better work-life balance. Companies that embrace flexibility in their recruitment strategies are finding it easier to attract and retain top talent.
Use it to Your Advantage
- Employers: Get clear on what flexibility you can offer and highlight it
- Job Seekers: Be honest about your ideal work-life setup and seek out roles that support it
The second half of 2025 is full of opportunity! Whether you’re an employer trying to stay competitive in a tight market or a job seeker looking for your next move, these trends offer real ways to stand out, grow and succeed.
Need help navigating it all? That’s what Hunter Recruitment Group is here for!
Get in touch with the HRG team today to talk about your recruitment needs, current openings, or just to get ahead of the curve.
(02) 4936 6537
https://www.hunterrecruitmentgroup.com.au/
19 Church St, Maitland NSW 2320
by Craig McGregor | Feb 6, 2025 | Business, Featured, Recruitment
Earlier this year I had the privilege of turning 50 and like most people I assume it is a time of reflection. I had a great party surrounded by friends and family and post party I took off with my girls for a holiday.
Hitting this milestone has made me think about my career (it’s been almost 19 years in this one role, although I am extremely fortunate to love it and to have so many varied experiences across this time) and what is it I wish to achieve over the next decade and beyond.
Our options are ENDLESS!!!
50 is a great age you are more mature and hopefully comfortable with who you are. You have experience and it is the kind of experience that employers want, but you also have to be able to move with the times.
Below are a few areas of interest and growth I see move talent at 50 and beyond:
The Gig Economy
Whilst on our holiday, in an uber with my wife & girls chatting to our driver (a post 50 independent woman) I asked her about driving uber. Our driver loved the flexibility, the nature of the work and she had learnt how to make it worthwhile for her. This individual sounds like they had set themselves up in youth with savvy investments and the uber role was purely a fun gig to bring in cash for fun things.
I was inspired by the opportunity this person has embraced and the joy that the work was bringing her. Having the choice of when the work fits her best.
Connected Consulting
In our post covid world of Zoom & MS Teams meetings, consultants are connecting with prospective and current customers wherever they are – in time zones that suit. Using your expertise whilst travelling, moving or connecting with customers overseas these doors were not open to many of our parents but as we go beyond the 50 year threshold doors (or laptop screens) remain open.
The Profit For Purpose Economy
A trend we see everyday at HRG is the desire to work in not for profit (NFP) or what it really is – Profit for Purpose sector. The experience garnered in other areas can bring fruit to a sector rapidly growing and in high need of talent.
Stay Put
Love what you do and still passionate about your role then keep you head up and keep loving life
Turn Left
Stick with me on this analogy. You probably drive the same road and the same route to work each day. Tomorrow turn left, explore other employment zones in your area, see what is around that excites you.
Turn left on the internet, don’t just explore the same webpages and look at different categories on job boards like seek. Turn left and see what is out there and then explore how to get to the new destination.
Start a conversation with HRG
If like me you have turned 50 and have been thinking about what’s next… it costs nothing to have a career conversation with HRG. We can give advice, take you down a new career path, discuss staying put, or explore alternate opportunities like consulting.
I feel a new sense of energy after turning 50 and spending more time with my family over the holiday. My goal moving forward is to continue to connect people with career opportunities in my business whilst maximising the time I have with my loved ones. Maybe that means you will meet me via MS Teams in the future in between me hitting the beach on a 3 day weekend. A plan is brewing.
My take aways from hitting 50
- A chance to celebrate
- A time to be grateful and reflect &
- A fantastic time to take charge of life – including your career
I also now feel a little bit more welcomed at my parents bingo table.
If you are seeking some direction on your career than reach out to me via email craig@hrgroup.com.au (email is best as I am 50 now and truly don’t get snapchat…)
by Craig McGregor | Mar 14, 2024 | Podcast
Lisa Harvey Smith
Hear how a young girl dreaming of the stars has traversed the most amazing career path:
Astrophysicist, Author, Professor & Australian Government Women in STEM Ambassador
Amazing Career Conversation about the power of following your dreams and how this leads to doors opening that you could have never imagined.
by Craig McGregor | Mar 1, 2024 | Business, Featured, Recruitment
The labour market in Australia is tight in 2024 with a lack of quality supply still effecting speed of placement for all sizes of organisations. Is your business still just relying on seek or other advertising methods to secure the best talent? HRG is your key to unlocking talent in today’s market.
Job ads are not garnering the responses they did pre covid and employers are struggling to source candidates from these methods.
Social media ads and posts are great for your business brand and I still believe that building a positive brand will help drive candidates to your business but it is a long game rather than one that will fill vacant positions now.
At Hunter Recruitment Group we have been delivering stats to our clients for years on fill rates and candidate source. Recently we did a data dive into 2023 and 72% of our successful placements were made with candidates not coming from traditional advertising sources.
Using methods that are not available to internal hiring staff and or business owners and having meaningful conversations with more people and a tenacity to source true culture fit for our clients via proactive search methods has delivered better results.
Start a conversation today with HRG if you are frustrated with the current employment market and you want to partner with a proactive recruitment team.
