The State of the Hiring Market 2026: A Recruiter's View

Beginning in December 2025, we began to see many changes in the hiring market. Some trends are good, others need a bit of a nudge to turn the other way. Here's our 360-degree view of the market entering 2026:

1. The Stealth Product Wave

Things are popping. New companies are being formed to bring new technologies and products to market in mid-2026 or early 2027. Those companies in stealth mode are quietly hiring, poaching candidates, and assembling creative teams. 

For hiring managers and recruiters: Stealth mode requires outside resources

Either you're spinning your wheels and expending valuable internal resources to search for candidates through personal networks, or you're working with a recruiter to build your team.

For those do-it-yourselfers, you'll eventually run out of time, exhaust your known networks of people, or burn out yourself and your staff trying to build a company while building teams. Although budgets are tight, you will actually SAVE money by contracting with a recruiter who specializes in the types of teams you are looking to build. 

The most agile and fast-growing companies are doing the work they need to do and leaving the hiring to the experts. What they aren't doing is throwing applications into the LinkedIn pool. They're using recruiters to tap into their established networks of top talent.

The BIG Question: If you're doing my job (vetting and hiring candidates), who's doing yours (launching a new company)?

For candidates: Get active on LinkedIn. Get updated and grow your networks

The introduction of new technology means lots of new companies are popping up with tools and technology to address these changes. These folks are in stealth hiring mode. As a result, we've seen big changes in the hiring process and how candidates are identified—and it's not through the application process.

Either they are using a recruiter or their own networks to scan LinkedIn. Candidates are being hired through referrals or talent scouting. 

The most proactive thing you can do is update your profile and keep growing your network on LinkedIn. I know, I know, you think LinkedIn sucks and you'd rather post on TikTok or Instagram where your work will get instant attention.

Here's the real real: LinkedIn is your digital presence. Period. It's a powerful tool that you must use. The folks looking to hire aren't searching on TikTok or Instagram; they're going straight to LinkedIn. 

2. The AI Revolution Horizon and the Shift to Hybrid Roles

While AI is the current buzzword, we haven't seen the full "revolution" yet. This year, AI will continue to change the way creatives and companies work and how talent is sourced and hired. 

The advent of AI has shifted the role of creatives from pure execution to blending brand strategy and design. Creatives now need to understand the why behind the brand. The "new breed" of creatives must both embrace AI technology and be able to easily pivot from high-level brand development to social graphics without ego.

In the meantime, companies are doubling down on the investments they've already made in AI and need to show ROI for those expenses. The focus on making AI live up to its promises has shifted candidate expectations.

For leaders looking to hire the best talent, working with a Recruiter to fine-tune expectations to market trends will save time, resources, and budget.

Candidates need to be aware that marketing and creative leaders are looking for talent who can use AI tools while adding the human elements that will bring the brand to life and differentiate it from competitors. They're hiring brand strategists and brand designers with both strategy and design backgrounds. 

As recruiters in the creative space, we're always looking for really tech-savvy, modern digital designers who can do everything. If you're a creative who hasn't learned how to use AI to make your work more efficient, it's time to hone those skills.

3. Salary Vulnerability: Adaptation is Key

The high-level compensation we saw just a couple of years ago—the 400K-750K base for Creative Directors—is becoming a "stretch," or even impossible, for the smaller, thriving businesses that are hiring. In the current market, those salaries are even coming down for larger organizations as they seek to cut costs to remain competitive.

For many hiring managers and HR teams, the pendulum has swung too far toward low salaries. To attract and retain the best talent, organizations need to match the job title, description, and salary to meet the real market trends. And by the way, one of those trends is fully remote or hybrid work models.

Let this sink in: Even though things are changing quickly in the creative space with technology, and even though there might be room for growth, it doesn't mean a candidate is going to be motivated to take 20K less a year. 

Finding the perfect candidate is multifaceted. As Recruiters, we have our finger on the pulse of what is actually happening from both a client and a candidate perspective, and we are always adapting to technology and trends. To keep up, organizations and hiring managers must be willing to change their perceptions and the value they assign to open roles.

At the same time, candidates need to take a deep breath and realize that the salary boom is over. Take stock of your "needs" and "wants" and rank them in order of importance—we call this Stack Ranking, and I teach it in my Career Accelerator series.

Looking forward to 2026, we see the AI revolution continuing, now more of an evolution, and changing hiring and job-seeking landscapes. We'll keep our finger on the pulse and a watchful eye on salary, hiring, and market trends. We see a need for greater alignment between companies and their hiring expectations and candidates and their job-seeking behaviors. As always, we're here to help you get where you need to go. Just ask. 

The Keva Dine Agency is the leading creative recruiting agency, focused exclusively on connecting top creative talent with sought-after companies for nearly three decades. We know the hiring, salary, and skills trends, as well as candidate desires. We are industry veterans, nurturing relationships for over 2 decades, and we have the insider knowledge from our experiences as creatives and marketers. Our specialties.