We sat with Bid Recruitment’s Business Sector Director, Daniel Higgins, to look back at the themes that defined 2025 and expectations for the year ahead.
As we enter 2026, it’s hard to ignore how dramatically the recruitment landscape has changed over the past 12 months. What began as a year defined by widening gaps between candidate and client expectations has ended with early signs of stabilisation and, in the world of Bid Recruitment, a clear resurgence.
Below are four themes that, in my view, have shaped both the bid market and bid recruitment over the past year.
1.The Office vs. Remote Divide
Last year, clients steadily increased expectations for in-office presence, driven by collaboration needs, cultural cohesion and perceived productivity benefits.
Candidates, however, continued to prioritise remote or hybrid models influenced by post-pandemic norms and lifestyle changes.
Unsurprisingly, this led to longer negotiations, slowed hiring cycles, reduced candidate pools, and forced both sides to re-examine what “flexibility” really means.
2.Salary Inflation vs. Budget Reality
We saw candidates enter the market expecting the rapid salary uplift trends of 2021–2023 to continue. But employers, facing tighter budgets and economic caution, were far less able to stretch beyond established salary bands, leading to longer negotiations and a greater need for recruiters to set expectations.
3.Roles Staying Open Longer… But Not With Us
A consistent pattern throughout 2025 was the length of time vacancies remained open before external support was engaged. Influenced by the earlier themes outlined, some organisations kept vacancies open for up to 12 months before turning to agencies or consultancies.
Yet once engaged, our fill times remained consistently strong at 2 to 4 weeks, a strong indication to the value of specialist expertise, market insight, as well as an active talent network.
This highlights that in a market where client and candidate expectations are misaligned, as noted earlier with salary and flexibility expectations, the need for third-party expertise is that much more necessary.
4.The UK was a Market in Decline… But We’re Stabilising
The wider UK labour market continued its long downward trend, with vacancies falling for 39 consecutive months up to late 2025. However, the period from September to November 2025 showed only a small decrease of around 2,000 vacancies, suggesting the market may be bottoming out and preparing for a more stable 2026. After years of contraction, this shift offers a sense of cautious optimism.
So What Did This Mean For Us?
While many sectors felt the squeeze, we saw an uplift in 2025. We enter the new year with a healthy, active pipeline and a particularly strong January forecast. Demand for bid, proposal, and capture talent has remained resilient, driven by several key factors:
- Increased competition for public and private sector contracts
- Greater investment in strategic bid functions
- A shift toward professionalised, outcome-driven bidding teams
- The need for third-party expertise to mediate between client and candidate expectations
And our team delivered multiple notable achievements, including successfully recruiting several director-level retained campaigns, launching our dedicated Bids Interim & Freelance Desk to respond to rising demand for flexible, specialist support, and continued growth in mid-senior permanent hiring across bids, proposals, and work-winning roles.
These reflect both the strength of the bid profession and the trust clients have in specialist recruitment partners.
To learn how Bid Recruitment can support you in 2026, contact Daniel Higgins.