Job Market Trends: How Layoffs Are Shaping Hiring Practices
While upgrading isn't new, Orsuga said that 2025 was the biggest year he's seen for the trend in more than two decades in the recruiting world. He calls it "bullseye hiring." "It's like every seat matters, so I've got to hit a bullseye and get the right person in the right seat," he said. Hiring has slowed in the US recently, due to economic uncertainty, cost-cutting, and AI adoption. In February, the hiring rate fell to 3.1% — a modern low matched only by the pandemic and early recovery from the Great Recession. Three recruiters across tech, marketing, and logistics said that when companies do hire, it can come at the expense of an existing employee. [...] Companies are replacing lower-performing workers with stronger talent to boost performance. It’s one way businesses are optimizing their workforces as hiring budgets tighten. The trend is playing out from early-career roles to the C-suite. AI-generated summary Summaries are generated by an AI model trained on Business Insider's articles. AI may make mistakes or provide inaccurate/incomplete information. We're unable to load that answer right now. Please try again. With hiring budgets constrained, some companies are finding a different way to bring in talent: replacing workers with better ones. [...] For mid-level roles, he said companies use a mix of headhunters and job postings. Some are required to post roles externally for compliance reasons, he said, and because many employees share similar titles, a new posting can signal growth rather than a looming replacement. Orsuga added that some companies are "always hiring" — bringing on new talent not necessarily to grow headcount, but to replace lower-performing workers over time.That dynamic can disproportionately affect early-career workers, who may find themselves competing with annual cohorts of new graduates.