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August 6, 2024
Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.
And my reluctant inclusion of ‘imposter syndrome’
I may have gotten it all wrong. The slowdown of hiring process may not be from corporate dysfunction. But something more basic on an individual level: the fear of messing up a hire.
I’ll back up. My colleagues and I had a discussion about the difference between 2021-2022 and 2024. The tldr:
👉The FOMO market of 2021-2022: companies had a fear of missing out on hires. Everyone was getting gobbled up. Sales reps, technology peeps, recruiters, you name it. Multiple offers, competitive offers, shortened interview processes, salary inflation, etc.
It was a fast market. If companies didn’t move quickly and aggressively, they couldn’t meet their hiring plans.
In hindsight, a lot of those hires didn’t work out. It was a mix of reasons. Some of it was companies being too optimistic with unsustainable headcount, making hires they didn’t need. Some was people landing roles they weren’t qualified to do. And some was because of hire junior & train strategies. Even the best L&D programs don’t have a 100% success rate.
👉The FOMU market of 2023-2024: companies have a fear of messing up hires. Longer interview processes, more steps, delayed decisions, changing requirements, etc.
It’s a slow market. Companies are not only making sure they’re making the right hire, but that they even need the hire to begin with. Training isn’t the emphasis, everyone wants someone who can plug & play on day 1.
It’s been my take that organizational dysfunction is the main reason why hiring breaks down. Lots of people in different roles with different priorities. All of whom underestimate the complexity of the process. And in some orgs, there are no strong leaders driving for process improvement.
But maybe it’s much simpler than that. One of my colleagues (who came from an internal role) brought up one of the biggest issues his old org used to see: processes were tightened to the point that hiring managers questioned their ability to make good decisions. Full blow organizational imposter syndrome, so bad they had to address it firm wide.
The org was so focused on the process of making great decisions, everyone got the yips and doubted they could do it. (Or that they’d be criticized for making a mistake.)
Not gonna lie: I buy it. If you’re a hiring manager who just made a few FOMO hires, had to lay off people due to economics outside your control (which no one likes doing), and now you’re given a limited budget and told ‘don’t f*ck this one up’…self doubt absolutely comes into play. It will take you forever to get anything done, not just hiring.
That said, my initial hypothesis is still correct. This is a ‘yes, and’ not an about-face 😂
Give yourself (and others!) permission to make mistakes. They’re gonna happen anyway.
Partner at Hirewell. #3 Ranked Sarcastic Commenter on LinkedIn.
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Plenty has been written about AI over the past two years. For much of that time, AI has been more hype than reality. I THINK 2026 is when that starts to change.
Here’s the first in a three part series of where we see AI going in the recruiting world.
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For the last few years, most companies treated AI like a recruiting assistant. It helped draft job descriptions, summarize resumes, and speed up outreach. Useful, sure. But it didn’t fundamentally change how hiring worked. And oftentimes, things needed to be double checked before hitting send.
I think that’s going to change.
In 2026, we’re seeing the rise of agentic HR. These are systems that don’t just support recruiters. They can execute work autonomously inside defined guardrails.
That shift is forcing talent leaders to rethink what recruiting teams are actually responsible for and what still requires a human.
From Copilot AI to Agentic Recruiting Systems
Traditional recruiting AI waited for humans to click “next.”
Agentic systems don’t.
They can interpret real-time funnel data, align to hiring goals, and take multi-step action. That includes adjusting sourcing spend, coordinating interview schedules, and triggering workflow changes without manual oversight.
This isn’t automation layered onto old processes. It’s the early version of a self-driving recruiting function.
The Metric That Matters More Than Time-to-Fill
Time-to-fill and cost-per-hire still matter. They just don’t fully capture what’s changing.
A concept showing up more in 2026 is Return on Autonomy. It measures the value created when humans and autonomous systems are paired intentionally.
In plain terms, the question is simple.
Are we using technology to eliminate busywork, or are we just doing the same work faster?
Because speed doesn’t help if it leads to worse decisions, a weaker candidate experience, or more noise in the funnel.
Why This Changes the Role of TA Leadership
As agentic systems absorb transactional work like screening, scheduling, and coordination, the role of recruiting leadership shifts.
The best TA leaders are spending less time managing process and more time doing what actually drives hiring outcomes. That includes aligning hiring to business priorities, building trust with candidates, and improving decision quality.
The real opportunity of 2026 isn’t more AI. It’s that recruiters finally get to focus on the work that requires being human.
The Mistake Companies Are Making Right Now
Here’s the trap.
Companies adopt advanced recruiting technology but keep the same habits. Long approval chains. Inconsistent communication. Unclear evaluation criteria.
When that happens, speed increases, but trust collapses.
Candidates don’t experience innovation. They experience silence, confusion, and a process that feels even more impersonal than before.
In 2026, the human experience of hiring is becoming a differentiator again because so many companies are getting it wrong.
What Talent Leaders Should Be Thinking About Now
You don’t need a total rebuild tomorrow. But you do need clarity.
The companies winning in 2026 are asking the right questions.
What parts of our hiring process truly require human judgment?
Where are we slowing things down out of habit?
Are recruiters trained for strategic work, or just process management?
Do our systems increase transparency, or just efficiency?
These aren’t technology questions. They’re leadership questions.
What’s Next
Agentic HR is changing how recruiting works. It’s also creating a new challenge.
As employers deploy autonomous systems, candidates are doing the same. The result is an emerging AI-on-AI hiring arms race that’s flooding pipelines with highly optimized but low-trust applications.
Next in this series: The AI-on-AI Hiring Arms Race and How to Protect Hiring Quality Without Breaking Trust
A lot of companies are going to try to AI their way into faster hiring this year and still end up with worse results. If you want to build a recruiting model that actually works in 2026, one that balances speed, quality, and credibility, we can help. Reach out if you want a second set of eyes on your hiring approach.
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