Key trends and challenges shaping the job market in 2025

The job market is undergoing a transformation in 2025, with the evolutions of previous years accelerated by significant trends that are shaping the future of work. We speak to Rob Daly, Chief Customer Officer at Cpl, to understand the impact for employers and employees.

What are the key trends impacting the job market? 

Work arrangements are having a big impact. Fully remote jobs have seen a decline year-on-year, but hybrid work models, where employees spend three days in the office, have become the standard for many organisations. 

Interestingly, when companies mandate a return to the office (RTO), it unsettles the workforce and, in turn, can lead to employees in those organisations registering their interest in other jobs that offer hybrid arrangements. In such cases, employees are not moving jobs straight away, but they are open to other opportunities, indicating a complex dynamic between employer requirements and employee preferences. Sectors such as construction, healthcare and manufacturing still require onsite presence, which remains a critical aspect of their operations.

In terms of sectoral growth, the demand for talent is particularly high in four key sectors: IT and software; construction and engineering; healthcare; and hospitality and retail. The IT and software sector leads the way, with software engineering positions being the most sought-after.

Skills shortages continue to be a challenge across various industries, including technology, pharmaceuticals, finance and accounting, and construction and engineering. Companies are actively seeking skilled professionals to fill these gaps.

Global economic factors are also influencing the job market. Recent changes in the USA and the geopolitical environment have created a sense of nervousness among both candidates and clients. Tariffs and rising costs are impacting market dynamics, although not all roles and industries are equally affected. 

How are these trends changing the talent hiring process?

Companies considering moves to mandate return-to-office (RTO) need to recognise the impact this has on existing staff and on potential future hires. In areas where there is a skills shortage and high demand for talent, organisations risk losing their best talent and retaining demotivated employees who ultimately may look to leave over time.

These trends are also impacting office space utilisation as organisations rethink their spatial requirements and what is going to work for their people. Fewer boardrooms and more breakout spaces for Teams/Zoom calls are in bigger demand today.

Global events and economic headwinds impact all sectors, in particular the hospitality and tourism sectors, which are left exposed by national events and consumer behaviour.

Across the healthcare sector, there is a continued shortage of nurses, healthcare assistants and other medical professionals, coupled with economic headwinds and budget constraints. This can lead to a deepening of the shortage crisis, putting further pressure on an already stretched public health service.

How does this relate to the new tech demands of 2025?

The challenges of hybrid work models, RTO mandates, skills shortages and global economic headwinds are closely related to the new tech demands of 2025.

With all hybrid work environments, companies continue to invest in cybersecurity to protect sensitive data and cloud infrastructure, which has led to a surge in cloud engineering talent. With RTO mandates, this has led to smart office solutions, IoT devices, advanced meeting technologies like interactive whiteboards, AI-driven transcription services, and more break-out spaces.

With continued skills shortages, companies are looking at AI and automation to help streamline processes to bridge the gap. That being said, what appears to be happening in practice is that while employees can access AI easily on their smartphones with apps such as ChatGPT, a lot of organisations are trying to figure out how to really utilise and harness AI safely for their business. This, in turn, leads to pressure for upskilling and growth in online learning platforms as companies look to train their people.

Finally, the economic headwinds are increasing demand for cost-efficient technologies that reduce expense and optimise operations and IT resilient infrastructure. This includes cloud solutions, robust cybersecurity and disaster recovery systems.

What are the technical skills that are in high demand by employers, and how do you see this changing over the next few years? 

The most advertised and in-demand jobs right now are for roles within software engineering. These roles are looking for programming skills in Python, Java, JavaScript and Go with experience in web development frameworks, cloud computing, data science and cyber security.

In the next five years, the demand will grow for software engineers with an understanding of AI and machine learning to know about deep learning, natural language processing and AI ethics. We are likely to see further demand and growth for jobs in quantum computing, blockchain, edge computing, DevOps automation, big data, augmented reality and virtual reality.

Across other areas, accountant positions are the second most advertised role, where accountants are expected to possess a range of technical skills to meet the evolving demands of the industry. Skills most often appearing in job requirements are auditing, taxation, compliance and planning, accounting software, data analytics and GAAP.

The role of an accountant will undergo significant change in the future. Routine tasks like data entry, book-keeping, bank reconciliation, and management accounts will become automated, while accountants will need to become more tech-savvy. Their role will be much more about business partnering, advisory, strategic planning, and data analysis. With the growth of the green agenda, sustainability reporting will fall into the accountant’s remit, given that companies will have to track and record these metrics.

Given market conditions, it’s not unexpected that the next largest cohort of roles sought are for sales and business development capabilities. These roles are already embracing automation and AI, with candidates jumping into the AI space to find new ways to engage customers and to help them reduce the administrative burden.

Similar to accountants, advancements in AI, automation and data centricity will require future salespeople to be more partner-oriented, analytical, tech-savvy, consultative and informed regarding their approach to sales and customer engagement.

Beyond technical expertise, what other skills do you believe are essential for candidates in this era of work?

In essence, the skills needed for this era of work are very similar to all other eras: the ability to be adaptable and quickly adjust. This is key, as is being curious and inquisitive about what is happening all around you and knowing how you can learn, develop and lead. The ability to learn new skills and being able to apply them effectively is essential.

In today’s rapidly evolving work environment – and especially with a move towards a hybrid work model – several non-technical skills are becoming increasingly important.
The top five tend to be communication skills, adaptability and flexibility, curiosity, problem-solving and the ability to collaborate and work well in teams.

As people work longer and later into life, we will see a continued growth of multiple generational workforces, and we will need tolerance, understanding and support for all cohorts of workers. Each group has their lessons and experience to impart, and truly great organisations will learn to harness that.

How has the shift to hybrid work impacted talent acquisition strategies?

Across key sectors that operate flexible work, the number one question asked by every candidate is, “What is the hybrid or remote work policy?” Up until Covid, this question wasn’t in any of the top 50 things candidates wanted. This means that any company looking to hire has got to have a policy in place that they are able to live with for the next five years at least.

When it comes to talent acquisition strategies, hybrid work has several impacts. It has expanded the talent pool, and depending on the in-office requirements, organisations can hire from anywhere in the world and employ people in countries where they have no physical footprint. In theory and in practice, this has been positive, but it also means talent acquisition can be never-ending.

With so many choices of candidates and locations, it can be hard to whittle this down into effective recruiting and hiring of talent. This also has an impact on candidates, who have started to see companies not just nationally, but worldwide, search for their talent. High demand and abundance of options have led candidates to ghost the process and become ‘no-shows’ for interviews.

The main challenge right now for a lot of organisations that are recruiting talent in the hybrid work environment is trust. Many candidates have seen companies embrace flexibility, including hybrid and remote arrangements over the last few years, only for this to be rolled back in recent times. This has led to this new dynamic where candidates who are looking to leave organisations with RTO mandates are now insisting on specific conditions to enshrine their flexibility in their next role before even beginning the interview process.

What innovative methods are organisations using to assess candidates effectively beyond traditional interviews?

As talent demand grows, along with a more flexible approach to hiring in terms of experience and education, skills-based hiring has become a hot topic among employers over the past 12 months. This new approach brings challenges around verifying skills. In response, Cpl is observing a shift from traditional psychometric assessment towards a new flavour of assessment focused on skills validation.

There are many new and different methods to assess candidates, but for a lot of companies, it’s fundamental to look at all aspects of the role they are trying to hire for and look at the key skills and competencies they need for the role.

Companies have access to a multitude of different platforms, including the AI-powered video interview, where AI assesses facial expressions, tone of voice, word choice and can even tell if the candidate is using AI to help answer the questions.

Other innovative ideas that companies are using are job auditions, culture-based interviewing, coding assessments, and cognitive personality tests with predictive analytics that are able to predict candidate success.

For in-demand candidates, companies also need to consider the number of interview stages and the methods they’ll use in the process. Most candidates who have in-demand skills will remain in a process that has three to four interview stages, at most. Companies need to carefully plan the method they will use.

If candidates are expected to carry out a coding test for one to three hours, they will want to know why they should invest this time, whether they will hear back on the results, how they are being assessed, and whether there is a right of reply. Companies need to assess if the brand, as an employer, can carry this, and if candidates will be prepared to invest this time to join their company.

For other roles, where skills are not so in demand, companies still need to review what methods they are using to assess candidates. There is a rush to use AI and machine learning in this process, but companies need to be fully aware of their obligations under the new EU AI Act, which came into force in August 2024. The use of AI tools to assess candidates has strict criteria, and it is vital that organisations know how these tools have been written before adopting them fully.

For more information on Ireland’s leading specialised recruitment and talent solutions organisation, visit cpl.com.