💹 The jobs market - 6 trends in 2025 - issue 5

Hello! 

If - like me - you've recently returned from summer and the kids have headed back to school, I hope you've had an enjoyable 1st week or so back at work.

Sorry for the few weeks' gap since my last content email - I downed tools entirely for some extended quality time with the family. 

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Been there, done that.

I find that the best inspiration for our own careers simply comes from learning from the experience of others. Especially those more senior, who have "been there and done that". 

So this week, I've been busy recording interviews with various CEOs for you to enjoy. Thanks go to all my guests for sharing their secrets to success as well as the mistakes they made along the way!

Next week, I'm sitting down with 4 more guests, including: 

• Beltrán Simó - who is increasingly well known for his candid LinkedIn advice on life in & after consulting. 
• Matthew Wright - the former Global CEO of Russell Reynolds - who I'm welcoming back to set out tactics on how to negotiate compensation (Rachel - who joined my career support programme earlier this year reported a 100X return on investment thanks to using these tactics to negotiate a +20% uplift on a job offer).

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If you'd like to dig into these guest interviews and others that I've recorded in the past, simply reply to let me know, and I'll send over the details. 

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"What's the market like?" 

Is a question I'm asked almost every day. So this week, I've also published an in-depth look into the state of the jobs market right now. 

We analysed 1.8 million data points (sorry, you can take the consultant out of consulting....) and uncovered trends for: private equity, enterprise, advisory/consulting, startups/scaleups and freelance vs permanent careers. 

Here's a quick summary, but I'd encourage you to spend a few minutes exploring the 12 charts and/or the video discussion about the insights available on the page here.

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6 highlights to be aware of:

1. 18-month peak in hiring demand during Q2
> Activity broadly doubled over 6 months
> Although this is very varied by company type

2. Private Equity is seeing a boom in demand for talent driven by
> Increased focus on operational improvement across ever larger portfolios
> More deal flow - 275 deals over $100mn vs. 200 in H1 2024

3. Advisory firms - growth in hiring despite the "death of consulting" headlines
> Clients invest in getting to grips with what AI means for them and their operating model

4. Scale-ups - slight rebound driven by fast-expanding AI businesses
> Returning to normal levels (having been depressed since depressed H2 2021) 
> Talent supply remains high, even if employer demand has grown

5. Large enterprise - trailing other sectors 
> Below the growth in Private Equity, Advisory and Scale-ups
> Talent supply is more constrained / lower interest than in other sectors 

6. Freelance market - has become more competitive
> Permanent jobs are now somewhat less competitive
> There's a rising oversupply of talent in freelancing, even though project volumes have increased

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I hope you find the article, video & links to my guest interviews helpful.

Have a great weekend ahead, and if you have any questions or would like to explore my guest interviews, please reply to let me know.

Best wishes,

Rich