Ugh. For the last few months, those words have been echoed again and again by candidates, quickly becoming the bane of recruiters’ success (and sanity) in filling roles. The refrain has grown so loud that it has become symbolic of current hiring markets. As an example, the Head of HR at one of our clients this week made the comment, “This is honestly the worst, well, maybe the weirdest, recruiting market I’ve ever seen. It’s remarkable how there are plenty of positions out there and just no candidates, or should I say no good candidates, that are interested in them”.
When asked for our view on what’s driving that dynamic, it’s hard to pinpoint one specific cause as it isn’t attributable to any particular experience level, business function, location, etc. Instead, we attribute it to a few different factors. First, looking back over the last several years, many prospective job seekers have made at least one, if not multiple, job changes since the onset of the pandemic, resulting in a considerable amount of cultural change and new role/team acclamation that is required. Having made those changes, it seems those prospective job hunters have decided to “settle in” for now and remain in their seat for a bit longer to show more duration on their resume rather than job-hopping, opting to instead take their time in weighing potential career moves. Second, there’s not much for those who are gainfully employed to be disappointed about, the vast majority having received considerable compensation increases through new jobs in recent years as well as a hybrid in-office work structure that still fluctuates for most firms between three and four days per week in-office. As we’ve advised clients who require a full in-office structure, this factor will remain a challenge on the recruiting and retention fronts going forward. Many candidates express that they value having the option to work one day a week remotely above other factors such as compensation, PTO, or benefits. Another contributor to candidates’ recent inertia has been the increase in market volatility and what we’d describe as an unsupportive industry/macroeconomic backdrop. On any given week, financial markets headlines have been dominated by the ongoing Iran conflict, interest rate forecasts, oil prices, etc., all of which have weighed on candidates.
Within the investments industry more specifically, it’s been a steady dose of news regarding elevated client redemptions within private credit strategies, industry consolidation, job cuts at selected industry firms, underperformance by certain active managers, and more. Not only that, AI has captivated the minds of many in financial services, leading to speculation across all levels about how its ongoing adoption and evolution could impact their roles. Needless to say, this has given industry participants a perfect storm of potential concerns to weigh in making any potential career move elsewhere.
As far as industry hiring activity, the first half of 2026 saw a brisk pace with a meaningful uptick in activity across traditional investment firms, private managers, and wealth managers alike. Through our search engagements, we’ve seen a broadening out from solely replacement/backfill searches to new headcount additions as well which is an encouraging development. Mindful of headcount and margins, hiring firms remain vigilant about finding resources that can wear multiple hats and offer flexibility across multiple facets versus a specialist serving in a single, narrow lane. As far as areas of focus, investments, distribution, relationship management, and compliance have comprised the bulk of new hiring activity. Within traditional managers, there has been an active effort to build out additional sector knowledge within technology and healthcare, or replace underperforming resources in those areas given their size and importance in strategies’ benchmarks. Within private investments, private credit firm hiring has slowed, unsurprisingly, though private equity firms have continued to hire resources for deal teams and investor relations/capital formation functions. Wealth management hiring has mainly been directed at client-facing resources, consisting of resources with existing high-net-worth networks that can help cultivate new client relationships, or others that can service existing books and look for expansion opportunities. Financial planning expertise along with next-gen strategy formulation and education experience remain top of mind as well. For those candidates who might be weighing a new career direction, two areas that remain in short supply for talent are business developers who can generate new relationships/revenue and CPAs with accounting knowledge. As far as compensation trends, pay has plateaued for the most part in 2026 after significant increases over the last few years. Those candidates looking to make the jump for this reason alone may be disappointed to some extent.
On the topic of AI, it’s easily one of the most common questions and frequently-discussed areas of interest. Among investment firms that we’ve polled on the topic, the majority are using it to some extent to help generate marketing content, develop analytical insights on their business metrics, streamline processes, provide fundamental analysis on potential investments, or integrate it into their CRM to maintain a better cadence with clients. The prevalence of Claude, Co-Pilot, Gemini, and other tools will only grow going forward as firms look to create new efficiencies and improve their bottom line.
As we look ahead to the second half of the year, we see hiring activity remaining at a steady pace as firms embark on new transformational initiatives and replace retiring staff. We hope that the potential candidate population warms to the potential new job opportunities available and what could be more compelling, long-term career growth opportunities for them. Until that happens, hiring managers should expect that candidate slates should continue to be smaller than usual due to the lack of high-caliber candidates. Search processes will likely be stretched out somewhat because of it as well. In thinking about new hires needed, two questions we routinely receive from candidates involve i) getting better insights into the cultural makeup of the firm and what makes employees successful there, and ii) what the potential career progression path looks like for a given role in the years ahead. Having well-prepared answers for both questions in a time of ultra-high selectivity by candidates could be crucial in getting new hires over the finish line.