Hirewell Data Insights – Q1 2026

Q1 is in the books. There is always a sense of uncertainty when the calendar flips. Every year, we make big plans and forecast what we are working towards.  But it doesn’t mean the hiring market cooperates.

Now that the dust has settled, we looked across Hirewell’s practices to take the market’s temperature. Q1 2026 sent a clear signal: hiring demand is up. Sharply and broadly. Whether it was building GTM teams, adding technical headcount, scaling corporate functions, or navigating a tighter manufacturing and supply chain labor market, the conditions in this quarter were meaningfully different from a year ago.

Here’s what we saw, broken down by practice.

+17%	+113%	+21%
Jobs Sold Year-over-YearQ1 2026 vs. Q1 2025	New Client Logos Year-over-YearHighest quarter on record	Hires Year-over-YearPlacements across practices

The Big Picture

The story of Q1 2026 is volume AND breadth. New clients more than doubled compared to Q1 2025, and were up 100% from Q4 2025. That’s the most significant leading indicator in the data: companies that had been on the sidelines are engaging. The pipeline of new searches opened, the number of offers made, and the number of placements completed all grew year-over-year.

Let’s dive into what we saw within each of our practices.

GO-TO-MARKET

GTM Hiring: Accelerating Into 2026

Go-to-market roles (sales, marketing, customer success, and revenue operations) saw the most dramatic acceleration of any function in Q1. Jobs opened were up 43% (from last year). Companies that were cautious about GTM investment through much of 2024 and 2025 appear to have turned a corner.

What does this look like on the ground? More organizations are building or rebuilding their revenue teams with urgency. We’re seeing strong demand across account executives, customer success managers, and revenue operations roles in particular. The sales hiring slowdown that characterized much of the 2023–2024 correction looks firmly in the rearview mirror.

The one friction point: time-to-hire in GTM is longer than any other function we track. Hiring managers in this space are taking more time to assess cultural and performance fit, which extends the process. Candidates are fielding multiple offers. Organizations that move deliberately but not quickly risk losing top talent to faster-moving competitors.

• Jobs opened: +43% year-over-year
• New client engagements: At or near a multi-year high
• Watch out for: Longer time-to-hire is costing companies candidates — streamline your interview process

TECHNOLOGY

Tech Hiring: Volatility Gave Way to a Strong Rebound

Technology hiring has been the most volatile function over the past several quarters, and Q1 2026 is a useful case study in why reading a single data point in isolation can be misleading. After a notable dip in Q4 2025, when tech job openings dropped to their lowest level in two years, Q1 2026 came back with a strong rebound. New jobs opened were up 5% compared to Q1 2025 and more than doubled from the Q4 trough.

The underlying driver appears to be a combination of budget resets at the start of the fiscal year and a recalibration of AI-related headcount decisions. Many organizations that reduced technical headcount in anticipation of AI productivity gains are now finding they still need specialized engineers, architects, and product talent. Just in different configurations than before.

• Jobs opened: +5% year-over-year, +110% quarter-over-quarter off Q4 lows
• Key trend: AI-driven org redesigns are creating new hiring needs, not eliminating them
• Fastest time-to-accept: Tech placements are closing faster than any other function, once candidates are identified

CORPORATE FUNCTIONS

Corporate Functions: Steady Growth, Shifting Demand Mix

Finance, HR, legal, and administrative hiring grew steadily in Q1, with jobs opened up 24% year-over-year. Hiring for recruiters (internal and embedded RPO) bounced back for the first time in 4+ years. The practice added the most new client logos in the quarter. We see this as a sign that organizations are feeling urgency to fill open roles. 

For organizations that have been struggling to fill finance or HR roles, Q1 data suggests the market is more navigable than it was 12 months ago — but the window requires intentional action and process.

• Jobs opened: +24% year-over-year
• Tightest talent: FP&A, HRBPs, and compliance specialists remain in short supply relative to demand

SUPPLY CHAIN AND MANUFACTURING

Supply Chain + Manufacturing: A Cautious Market That is Picking up Steam

The macro backdrop for manufacturing and supply chain hiring is genuinely complex right now. Organizations are simultaneously dealing with tariff-driven sourcing disruptions and nearshoring strategies that are reshaping procurement and logistics structures, as well as increased automation investment that’s changing the required skills mix. This complexity is creating real demand for leaders and SMEs who can operate across multiple modes of uncertainty. It’s also making it harder to find talent.

That said, this caution is selective rather than categorical. Companies with clear near-term production needs — driven by reshoring initiatives, infrastructure projects, or specific contractual demands — are hiring, and hiring with urgency. The bifurcation between organizations with defined mandates and those in “wait and see” mode is more pronounced than in any other function.

• Bright spots: Reshoring, automation, and infrastructure-driven demand are creating pockets of urgent need
• Market driver: Tariff disruption, nearshoring, and automation are all reshaping the talent needs
• Watch for: Accelerating activity in H2 2026 as sourcing restructuring matures

What This Means for Hiring Leaders

A few themes cut across every function in the Q1 data:

• Demand is up, and so is competition for talent. More companies are hiring than six months ago. That means top candidates have options. The organizations winning in this market are moving faster, communicating more clearly, and offering more flexibility in how roles are structured.
• New client volume is a leading indicator. The surge in new client engagements — more than double year-over-year — tells us that organizations that had paused or deprioritized strategic hiring are re-engaging. This typically precedes a broader increase in search volume by one to two quarters.
• Hiring varies by function. A lot. The market is not uniform. GTM is accelerating. Tech is rebounding but remains significantly below its highs from earlier in this decade. Corporate functions are steady, with a rebound in hiring for recruiters (internal and embedded RPO). Manufacturing and Supply Chain are cautious, but starting to rebound. A hiring strategy that treats all functions the same will underperform one that’s calibrated to the specific dynamics of each.
• Process speed is a competitive advantage. Across GTM, tech, and corporate functions, we’re seeing candidates make decisions faster than hiring processes were designed to accommodate. Organizations that reduce time-to-offer without sacrificing rigor consistently outperform those that don’t.
• The big question going forward. Will a prolonged conflict in the Middle East disrupt the global economy and bleed into hiring?  We haven’t seen it yet, but that can change if uncertainty lingers into May and beyond.

About This Report: This report is based on Hirewell’s internal placement and engagement data for Q1 2026, across our GTM, Technology, Corporate Functions, Industrial, and Supply Chain practices. Year-over-year comparisons reference Q1 2025. All figures reflect Hirewell’s own client activity and are intended as directional market signals.Questions or want to discuss your hiring plans? Reach us at hirewell.com.