2026 Hiring Forecast: 88% are hiring, 1 in 5 internationally
The good news for job seekers: hiring is alive and well. 88% of hiring managers say they plan to hire in 2026, signaling continued demand across virtually every sector.
Customer support leads the charge as the most in-demand function, with 41% of companies hiring for those roles, followed by operations and logistics (33%), tech support (25%), sales and business development (23%), and marketing (22%). DevOps roles are seeing less movement, with 13% of hiring managers actively recruiting for them.
One sobering reality for candidates: 26% of hiring managers only review the first 100 applications they receive, signaling both application overwhelm on the part of managers and a true sense of how necessary it is to find your way to the top of the application pile.
One way to bypass a glut of applications is using recruiters, which cull the applicant pool and provide a select number of candidates. Overall, 36% of hiring managers work with external recruiters, but that figure jumps to 51% in the tech sector, where specialized talent is harder to source independently.
For companies doing the hiring, the current employer-first market is yielding real advantages. The biggest perceived benefit? A higher-quality talent pool, cited by 36% of respondents. More affordable salaries came in second at 32%, and faster time-to-hire rounded out the top three at 24%.
International hiring: global talent strategies are gaining ground
While most hiring remains domestic, roughly 1 in 5 companies are casting a wider net. 81% of hiring managers recruit domestically only, but 18% are hiring both domestically and internationally, and in the tech sector, that figure rises to 30%. Just 1% across sectors are only hiring internationally.
So what's driving companies to look beyond U.S. borders? The top reason is company structure: 57% say their business is already global, making international hiring a natural extension. Access to a broader global talent pool was cited by 36%, while the high cost of U.S. workers factored in for 34%, a telling signal about salary and benefit pressures in the current market. Candidate shortages (18%) and the ability to extend business hours across time zones (17%) round out the key motivators.
Top international talent pools
What countries are these managers hiring from? We provided a list of the 10 most common countries used in offshore hiring, and here’s how they stack up: India tops the list at 27%, followed by a mix of other countries not among the 10 listed (21%), the UK (14%), the Philippines (9%), Mexico (7%), and Canada (6%).
Nearshoring, or hiring talent from nearby countries, is also emerging as a popular middle ground, with 35% of internationally-minded companies planning to nearshore. Of those, two-thirds say time zone alignment is the primary driver, while 28% highlight the ability to hire high-caliber employees at a lower cost.
Hiring difficulties: Ghosting, skill gaps, and a market that's getting harder
As any hiring manager can tell you, the path to filling roles is far from smooth. Among companies that are not hiring, 35% point to economic uncertainty as the reason, and 32% say rising healthcare costs have directly impacted their hiring plans.
For those who are hiring, it seems to be only getting harder. 56% of hiring managers say hiring has become more difficult over the last five years. When asked to rate current difficulty, 32% describe it as difficult and 3% say very difficult, compared to 25% who find it easy and 6% very easy. The rest of respondents felt neutrally about hiring.
The biggest pain points are salary expectations and demands, cited by 26% of hiring managers as the most difficult component of hiring. Accurate, real skill assessment follows at 20%, with talent pool size (15%), talent gaps (14%), and remote work expectations (8%) rounding out the list.
Then there's the ghosting problem, which is more widespread than many employers might expect. 75% of hiring managers have been ghosted by a potential hire, with 34% experiencing it both mid-process and after extending an offer, 29% only mid-process, and 12% only after the offer stage.
AI & hiring: Opportunities, red flags, and deepfakes
Artificial intelligence has become embedded in the hiring process on both sides of the table. 27% of hiring managers now use AI in their hiring systems, with that figure rising to 42% in the tech sector.
At the same time, employers are all too aware that candidates are using AI too. 88% of hiring managers say they receive job applications that clearly used AI. The breakdown tells the full story: 33% of hiring managers estimate that 21-40% of their applications show signs of AI use, while 29% estimate 1-20%. Only 12% say they've seen zero AI-assisted applications.
Using AI doesn’t appear to get the results applicants hoped for. 38% of hiring managers have rejected candidates specifically because of apparent AI use on their applications, suggesting that over-reliance on AI tools for crafting resumes and cover letters can actively hurt a candidate's chances. In a market that 76% job seekers say is burning them out, intentionality is key.
Perhaps most striking is the rise of AI deepfakes in interviews. 1 in 6 hiring managers in tech report encountering an AI deepfake during an interview, with the rate even higher in marketing, where 1 in 5 have had the same experience. As AI-generated personas become more convincing, this is quickly becoming a front-line concern for talent acquisition teams: how do you know your applicants are who they say they are?
Retention & culture: What keeps employees and what drives them away
What happens after an offer is accepted and employees are onboarded? 19% of hiring managers identify employee retention as one of their biggest ongoing challenges, and the data reveals some nuanced dynamics about what companies value and where they're struggling to hold onto people.
On the retention side, compensation is the leading challenge, cited by 31% of hiring managers. Burnout and career growth are tied at 20% each, while work-life balance rounds out the top four at 15%. These figures point to a consistent pattern: employees are leaving, or considering leaving, primarily because of structural issues like pay, progression, and sustainability rather than cultural ones.
For companies looking to reduce turnover in 2026, the data suggests that addressing compensation transparency early, building clear career pathways, and proactively managing workload will be the key to employee retention.
Conclusion: It’s a tough market for everyone
The 2026 job market is defined by high hiring intent tempered by real friction. For employers, the advantages of a talent-rich market are real, but so are the challenges, including AI-inflated application volumes, candidate ghosting, and retention pressure. Strategic use of recruiters, thoughtful international hiring, and competitive compensation structures will separate companies that fill roles efficiently from those that struggle.
For job seekers, the message is clear: apply early, use AI tools with care and authenticity, and be ready to demonstrate tangible skills. In a market where over a quarter of hiring managers stop reviewing after the first 100 applicants and 38% are actively screening out AI-heavy submissions, standing out means being genuinely prepared and obviously human.
Methodology & fair use
In February 2026, we surveyed 1,005 hiring managers nationwide and across sectors on their hiring plans for this year. 50% were women, 49% men, and 1% nonbinary or chose not to disclose; ages ranged from 20-76 with an average age of 42.
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Fair Use
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