There has been a noticeable decline in advertised roles across job boards, particularly within IT. While this is often interpreted as a slowdown, it doesn’t fully reflect what is happening in the market.
Hiring hasn’t stopped. It has simply become more selective, more targeted, and far less visible.
This is what we are seeing play out as quiet hiring.
Quiet hiring occurs when organisations choose not to formally advertise roles, instead relying on trusted recruiters, established networks and known talent pools to identify the right candidate. It is a deliberate move away from open market advertising, driven by the need to reduce risk, save time and improve hiring outcomes.
A key factor behind this shift is the significant increase in candidate applications, without a corresponding improvement in candidate alignment. We are seeing a growing volume of applicants who are unable to meet hybrid requirements, do not hold the necessary working rights, or are submitting highly tailored, AI-generated CVs that closely match job descriptions but lack genuine depth when assessed.
On the surface, many of these profiles appear strong. In practice, they require a far greater level of validation, turning what was once a straightforward screening process into a time-intensive exercise. This has led to what many hiring managers are now experiencing as CV fatigue, where the effort required to identify a genuinely suitable candidate outweighs the perceived benefit of advertising broadly.
As a result, hiring behaviour is shifting. Instead of going to market and navigating large volumes of applications, organisations are increasingly partnering with recruiters to deliver targeted shortlists, often with a preference for roles to remain unadvertised.
This shift places greater emphasis on relationships. Many of the most attractive opportunities are no longer visible on job boards, but instead sit within networks and are accessed through trusted partnerships. For candidates, this means that relying solely on applications is becoming less effective, particularly in a market where standing out is increasingly difficult.
Quiet hiring does not reduce demand for talent. It changes how that demand is accessed.
And in a market where opportunity is less visible, relationships have never mattered more.
