Q1 2025 HIRE Report
Q1 2025 HIRE Report
Quarterly Hiring Insights and Recruiting Environment (HIRE) Report by Advanced RPO
I love the clean slate that comes with the start of a new year. That said, there’s still a few loose ends we need to tie up once and for all in 2025 – starting with the WFH vs. RTO debate that still rages on. We tackle that in this quarter’s HIRE report.
We also double down on our commitment to give you actionable advice. Our team is out there sourcing, interviewing, and hiring every day. We’re passing on our lessons learned to you – don’t miss our hot take on how to get around a competitor with a higher pay rate.
In addition to rolling up our sleeves on the hiring front, we spend a lot of time advising clients and analyzing market trends. If you’re not thinking about the impact of new collar jobs on the market, you’re behind the curve.
Before you dive into the report, we’d love to get your take on what you anticipate being the highlight of your hiring program this year. Let’s kick off 2025 with some positive energy!
In addition to this quarterly report, there will be even more ways to hear from our team this year. Later this month, we’ll be launching a newsletter on LinkedIn (follow @Advanced RPO to find out more and subscribe!) and – I’m so excited for this! – we’ve launched a podcast! We hope you’ll check out Advancing Talent Acquisition for a more in-depth look at all things TA.
Pam Verhoff
President and CEO, Advanced RPO
Hiring Insights
An update on the WFH vs. RTO debate.
The official state of where we work is still very much a mixed bag. However, a new survey gives us a bit of insight when it comes to determining the next chapter. Here are three important trends uncovered by Flex Index. Let’s catch up.
- Overall, hybrid is the most common work model. And it’s the only model growing in popularity. Hybrid arrangements doubled year over year, growing from 20% to 43% of organizations. Just 25% of companies are fully remote.
- While employers want people in the office, most aren’t picky on when. Instead of mandating employees work in the office on specific days, 79% of hybrid employers set minimum weekly office hours, giving teams (a little) autonomy over their schedule.
- As company size increases, so does the amount of RTO mandates. There’s a very real correlation here: 70% of employers with less than 500 FTEs offer flexible work arrangements, while only 14% of companies with more than 25,000 employees do. Only 15% of small companies are hybrid, while 73% of large companies are.
Our expert’s advice
Hybrid work is becoming the default compromise, with mid-market companies designing ‘anchor days’ to balance collaboration and flexibility. This offers employers the ability to hire beyond their immediate geography, accessing diverse and specialized talent. Companies who offer flexible work arrangements are seeing an edge in attracting and retaining top talent, especially in roles where remote work is viable.
Kevin Armstrong
Program Director, Advanced RPO
Can’t compete on pay? Try these instead.
When it comes to hourly roles, there’s one job factor that matters most – pay rate. You can win or lose candidates quickly once they determine if you’re paying more or less than other employers competing for their attention.
It’s a numbers game, and for some (actually, most) employers, raising the rate just isn’t an option. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it. But sometimes there is. We’ve put together a list of strategies, unrelated to pay rates, to attract (and keep!) hourly employees.
- Allow workers to choose shifts
- Work a compressed work week
- Alter shift start/stop times
- Enable remote/hybrid arrangements
- Allow shift sharing
- Create an hourly-specific benefits package
- Offer weekly or on-demand pay
- Extend childcare assistance
- Provide tuition reimbursement
Believe it or not, these strategies can be far “stickier” than pay when it comes to retention. 💡
While pay gets more people in the door, it also means that they’ll leave as soon as a higher-paying role opens. Taking a more personal, thoughtful approach to compensation in the form of benefits and flexibility can drive more engagement and loyalty.
This is hugely beneficial, given the incredibly high turnover rates of hourly employees – and the operational disruption it causes.
Our expert’s advice
True recruiting partnerships go beyond filling roles — they’re about understanding the unique challenges our clients face and delivering tailored strategies, like these, that make a lasting impact on retention and engagement.
Erica Stewart
Account Director, Advanced RPO
You’re looking at the competition all wrong.
Hiring in one market can be completely different from the next. Before you do anything else – write a job description, set requirements, determine pay – you must have a clear idea of what you’re up against. Yet far too many employers have an inaccurate view of their competition. Their TALENT competition, that is.
The most basic definition of a talent competitor is the company or organization that also wants a candidate’s attention. Here’s two things to remember:
1️⃣ Your competitors aren’t always in your industry. If you’re a manufacturer hiring warehouse managers, for example, your competition could be anything from a retailer to a restaurant.
2️⃣ Your competitors aren’t always full-time employers. If you’re looking for hourly employees, your competition very well could be a staffing firm that offers free training to its temporary workers.
LABOR MARKET ANALYTICS EXAMPLE
We helped one of our clients drastically improve their apply rates by giving them a better view of their talent competitors. They were only considering data from competitors in their specific industry, so other labs, medical centers, etc. The issue was that there were companies in other industries in their geographical area hiring for the same positions and skillset paying talent 25% more than our client. By not including other industries when looking at talent competitors, they were missing this critical data, which contributed to high turnover and positions remaining unfilled for extended periods of time. Based on our holistic assessment of their talent competitors, the client aligned pay with market standards, which resulted in open positions being filled quickly and a substantial decrease in turnover.
Our expert’s advice
Understanding your true talent competitors is critical to winning the hiring game—it’s not just about your industry peers, but anyone vying for the same skill sets and workforce. Broadening that perspective can uncover key insights that drive better hiring outcomes.
Sarah Buck
Account Manager, Advanced RPO
Recruiting Environment
Life Sciences
Articles we read
Our expert’s advice
I see 2025 shaping up with a strong demand for specialized and interdisciplinary skills, increased adoption of flexible and remote work models, a deepened commitment to diversity and inclusion, the integration of AI into recruitment processes, a focus on sustainable hiring practices, and the strategic expansion of global talent pipelines to align with the industry’s evolving needs.
Ryan Feeney
Director of Business Development, Advanced RPO
Manufacturing
Articles we read
Optimism abounds for manufacturing in 2025
Advanced Manufacturing
4 manufacturing trends to watch in 2025
Manufacturing Dive
Our expert’s advice
While it is still early, the U.S. manufacturing sector is poised for an uptick in hiring for 2025 driven by reshoring efforts and investments in advanced technologies, though addressing the skills gap and attracting younger talent will be critical to maintaining this momentum.
Justin King
Solution Design Director, Advanced RPO
Food & Beverage
Articles we read
Putting humans back in the manufacturing loop
Food Engineering Magazine
Addressing Hourly Workforce Challenges Specific to the Food & Beverage Industry
Food Industry Executive
Our expert’s advice
Every segment across the industry continues to adapt to shifting market demands and regulatory requirements, and so too must their approach to talent acquisition. Today’s candidates have heightened expectations for speed, transparency, and alignment with their career aspirations. To secure the top talent that fuels innovation, compliance, and operational excellence, food and beverage companies must take a proactive approach to their hiring strategies.
Tim Oyer
Vice President, Advanced RPO
Looking Ahead to Q2
Next Up: Make way for new collar jobs
Our expert’s advice
If we look at the ‘market share’ of jobs, we’re at a huge inflection point right now. New collar roles are carving out a place for themselves among today’s workers. Over the last year, we’ve seen these roles chip away at white collar positions in particular, creating a new path to meaningful (and lucrative) careers.
Jenna Hinrichsen
Director of Recruitment Strategy, Advanced RPO
The Backstory
The term new collar jobs refers to roles that in many cases do not require a traditional degree, and instead prioritize technical skills often obtained through training programs like coding boot camps or on-the-job learning.
It was first introduced by former IBM CEO Ginni Rometty way back in 2016, in an effort to accelerate the adoption of technology across the business world. How? By widening the talent pool and closing the skills gap in the quickest way possible.
Still up in the air – new collar pay rates
While companies have largely figured out how to source/compensate new collar workers in IT, it becomes a bit trickier in other departments and industries. As an example, we recently had a client engage us to hire for an hourly role that required no degree, yet candidates needed to have very specific electrical experience. While this job would be considered blue collar, it doesn’t land in that corresponding pay range.
💡 Companies will need to make a call – pay for the skill/experience or pay entry level rates and train on the skills.
For more information about any of these topics or to learn more about how an RPO partner can help you reach your hiring goals, please contact us.
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Featured resource
2025 Recruitment Scorecard
Jumpstart your talent acquisition improvement plan with an 8-step recruiting program evaluation.