2025 Leadership Search Trends:
5 Key Market Retrospectives
The recruitment landscape shifted significantly this past year. When analyzing the 2025 leadership search trends, we observed a market moving at two distinct speeds. While some organizations remained cautious and methodical, others leveraged the economic context to move quickly and seize new opportunities.
Our team shares their observations on the ground, illustrating the specific dynamics that defined the year and what they signal for the future of leadership.
Caution is Slowing Down Decisions
Lorenzo De Angelis notes that employers are tightening their processes. We are seeing an increase in practical cases, psychometrics, and deeper reference checks. Risk tolerance is decreasing, and the motto has effectively become “hire slow, fire fast”.
Shortlists are coming together quickly, but final decisions are not. The talent pipeline remains strong; it is often internal priorities and complex approval paths that are creating the bottlenecks in the hiring cycle.
Canadian Firms are Strengthening US Commercial Teams
JP Holliday highlights a major cross-border trend. While many mandates remain Canada-focused, we saw a surge in international activity. Seven Canadian companies called on us this year specifically to recruit sales leaders in the United States. This was particularly evident in the B2B and industrial products and services sectors
Quality Over Quantity
Coraline Guerinet observes that priorities are shifting for both companies and candidates. This is driving a move away from volume toward a more targeted approach. The market is more demanding, processes are more complex, and talent is more selective. The result is fewer mandates, but better mandates, executed with a more consultative and adapted approach.
A Rise in Confidential Searches
Fannie Bourdages reports that confidential leadership searches saw a sharp increase this year. The current landscape is marked by tariffs, geopolitics, and uncertainty. This is leading many organizations to realign their leadership teams or prepare for strategic entries into new markets via NDA-backed searches. In a volatile market, discretion is no longer just a preference—it is a strategy.
Conclusion: A Year of Duality
2025 was a year of contrasts. While it was marked by caution and adaptation in the face of economic uncertainty, it also saw local companies deploy bold strategies to conquer new markets, particularly in the US.
This duality demands a new kind of agility: the ability to protect core assets while simultaneously going on the offensive.
Are you preparing your 2026 talent strategy? Contact us to discuss how these market trends impact your leadership search planning.