Why So Many Recruiters Are Getting Laid Off (and Switching Professions) — and How Not to Be Next
If your LinkedIn feed looks like mine, you’re seeing it every week: recruiters announcing they’re “open to work”… and more than a few saying they’re leaving the profession altogether.
Why? When hiring slows, recruiting is generally among the first functions companies cut. If leadership sees you as a nice-to-have, not a business driver — you’re at risk.
But there’s good news: the recruiters who demonstrate real, measurable value are the ones who survive and thrive. If you want to avoid becoming the next “open to work” post, here’s how to stay indispensable:
- Track your metrics and demonstrate how you specifically have earned your keep. Tie your work to business priorities. Just don’t be that person who brings a PowerPoint to every meeting demonstrating your ROI — be thoughtful and credible.
- Focus on vetting quality and carefully align your process with company-specific values and competencies. The best corporate recruiters are often the best vetters — not necessarily the best sourcers. Know when to partner with agencies — don’t compete with them. Smart internal recruiters leverage agency talent strategically to meet business goals.
- Become a leadership ambassador. You can’t attract great talent if you don’t reflect great leadership values and behaviors. Act with poise and dignity and you will stand out from the hordes of reactive recruiters who are often rudderless.
- Lead with customer service. Hiring managers might forget who sourced a candidate — but they remember how you made them feel. Be a trusted partner, not an order taker.
- Invest in strong relationships. With hiring managers, candidates, and agency partners. Pay attention to cues and preferences — and adapt. Do less work behind the scenes and more work in front of the business. People might forget who sourced a candidate, but they’ll remember how you made them feel. Being visible, collaborative, and trusted matters more than being quietly efficient.
- Think with a long-term strategic talent lens. What talent scales with the company? What is your employee value proposition? What differentiates your company from a competitor? Though much of your work may be transactional, think a bit deeper and you will stand out. Avoid becoming a reactive recruiter.
- Lean into AI and the many tools that are becoming available: ChatGPT, HireVue, Eightfold, Textio, Paradox.ai, Manatal, HireEZ, among others. To learn more about tech tools to boost your efficiency, read up on our “Tech Tools to Boost Your Productivity” article that covers these tools and more. If you aren’t investing in developing in this emerging area, you will be left behind.
In conclusion, be someone the business can’t imagine losing and not just another recruiter filling reqs. The future of this profession belongs to those who drive value and build trust.
“Can You Hear That Sucking Sound?” — Foreign Talent Is Quietly Leaving America
It’s the eerie sound of labs, startups, and boardrooms going quiet. International engineers and PhDs are unplugging from U.S. job offers and heading home. After all, over half of U.S. engineering doctorates go to foreign-born students , and yet only about 75% of STEM PhDs stick around long‑term.
What’s driving this exodus? A toxic mix of H‑1B caps, green card delays, punishing work-life norms—and policies that scream “you’re not welcome here.” An example of this is the Trump-era ban on new student visas at Harvard and Columbia, threats to revoke federal funding, and new “social media vetting” programs targeting international students. One insider quipped: picture a U.S. startup marquee that reads, “Now hiring! Visa process not included.”
Even top schools are sounding the alarm. Harvard has sued the administration, calling it “unlawful,” and Yale, Princeton, and MIT are banding together in solidarity. Meanwhile, 11 of 12 Fulbright board members resigned in protest.
The result? International applicant interest dropped by as much as 50% between January and April 2025. That’s a lot of bright minds—and research dollars—being quietly sucked away.
So what should recruiting and business leaders do?
- Lobby for policy change and flexibility. Push for visa-streamlining and green card reform.
- Highlight value to leadership. Demonstrate ROI from international hires—don’t let them be invisible.
- Stay competitive globally. Build offshore pipelines, offer remote/offsite options, and connect with global talent communities.
- Because while the rest of the world is rolling out the red carpet, the U.S. risks locking talent out and losing its edge.
Why Many Recruiters Will Inevitably Become HR Business Partners and Why That’s Not a Bad Thing
It’s an underappreciated truth in our field: the further you move up the recruiting ladder — particularly in the leadership rungs — the fewer true Talent Acquisition leadership roles exist. There are plenty of openings for recruiters, senior recruiters, and leads. But climb higher?
- Director and VP-level TA roles are scarce — and often consolidated.
- Chief Talent Officer roles are rarer still, and frequently absorbed into broader HR leadership.
According to LinkedIn data, only 2% of HR leadership roles carry a dedicated Talent Acquisition leadership title above the director level. The majority of senior “People” leaders are HRBPs (HR Business Partners), Chief People Officers, or HR Generalists with broad remits (source: LinkedIn Talent Solutions / Global Talent Trends Report).
In addition, Gartner reports that 47% of organizations globally are merging recruiting and general HR leadership structures to align with broader talent and business strategy needs — a trend accelerated post-pandemic as companies restructure (Gartner, Future of Work Trends 2024).
In reality, many TA leaders eventually find themselves boxed in, limited in influence and career mobility if they stay purely on the recruiting track.
Meanwhile, HRBP roles offer an attractive (and often necessary) path forward — especially for those seeking broader business impact.
- A seat at the table in workforce and org design decisions.
- Influence over comp strategy, talent planning, DEI, and succession.
- The ability to align talent with business priorities — not just fill seats.
Therefore, if you want more scope, responsibility, and internal influence, transitioning to an HRBP role is a smart (and often inevitable) move.
The good news? Recruiters are uniquely well-suited for HRBP work.
- They understand talent markets better than most HR generalists.
- They know how to build relationships and influence leadership.
- They bring an external, business-oriented mindset to people strategy.
- They’ve developed the instincts to tie talent to business outcomes.
And it’s no longer a secret: McKinsey research shows that companies that tightly align talent acquisition with broader people strategy outperform peers on revenue growth and profitability by up to 2.5x (source: McKinsey, “Linking Talent to Value”). The HRBP role is exactly where this alignment happens.
For recruiters thinking about career longevity: Don’t view the HRBP path as “giving up” on recruiting. See it as expanding your value. In today’s talent world, the most influential people leaders are those who can think beyond sourcing and hiring — and recruiters who make this shift will be far better positioned to lead in the future.
4. Quick Hits
- Upcoming FDA Descion Dates (PDUFA): Here’s a summary of the FDA’s upcoming new drug approval dates.
