Gone are the days when the workplace had rigid policies and schedules for employees, this is partly thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, which proved flexible work models can increase employee productivity.

However, despite the changes, companies still face a set of complex challenges when it comes to employee recruitment.

According to the 2025 Employee Recruitment Training and Statistics data by Auguste Escofier Global Solutions, most organisations still face a number of recruitment challenges despite a cooling job market that saw a decreased competition for talent since 2020.

“Despite cooling from the “war for talent” of the early 2020s, 77 per cent of organisations still face difficulty recruiting for full-time positions,” read part of the data compilation.

One of the key reasons why companies are finding it hard to recruit, majorly stems from job seekers who are in a position of strength and can either choose or decline job opportunities. When it comes to the supply and demand, 60 per cent of HR professionals reported cases of few applicants when they advertise for opportunities, while 46 per cent said there is an increase in employee ghosting.

Similarly, they also noted that most job seekers are not really interested in the types of jobs advertised while some are candidates, even though qualified, are not willing to move to the local area where the jobs are posted.

“The local market is also not producing enough qualified candidates,” said 33 per cent of HR professionals.

More notably, the findings also noted lengthy or complicated hiring processes as a major factor hindering efficient recruitment, as most job seekers are not into complex processes.

“Hiring processes have become overly long and unnecessarily complicated. Ten years ago, in just one or two interviews, you were either hired or not. The process took no more than two weeks. But today, there’s an assessment or multiple assessments, a self-conducted video interview where you speak to a robot via webcam, then a phone-screening interview, then some kind of in-person interview, and then an interview where you meet the senior management, and then, one or two months out, if you’re lucky, you hear back. And usually, it’s not what you want to hear,” complained a disappointed job seeker (@PlantOk956) on Reddit.
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The role of compensation and benefits cannot be overlooked. Thirty-nine per cent of HR professionals acknowledged that recruitment has become a pain in the neck for them, majorly because the salaries offered are not competitive for the market.

Employees have voiced dissatisfaction with the salaries offered by companies, suggesting they are not competitive with industry standards or the cost of living.

Here in Kenya, angry employees took to X (formerly Twitter), detailing their shocking salary offers, revealing employer exploitation in the job market.

“Earlier this week, I had an interview in which they offered me Sh20,000 and spent so much time justifying it. It’s frustrating when companies undervalue experience,” said a female user whose post sparked a discussion on how employers offer unbelievably low salaries for even the most complex positions.

In addition to this, the inability to offer flexible work arrangements as well as a non-competitive or lack of relocation packages are a hinderance to recruitment. Other compensation challenges include rejecting benefits packages while others being unable to move to local areas because of mortgage and other personal issues. And while job seekers’ ultimatums continue to give HR professionals and organisations a hard time, the latter also have their complains, particularly regarding skills.

Forty per cent of the organisations say candidates lack the needed experience while 37 per cent highlighted jobseekers’ lack of technical skills.

The lack of needed credentials or certifications, basic skills, and education requirements also make it hard for HR professionals to recruit. Interestingly, 9 per cent of the organisations said that candidates being overqualified is also a challenge.

With all these challenges presented, 67 per cent of HR professionals said it was very or somewhat difficult to hire these workers, so challenges still remain.