As the executive search industry weathered another difficult year, the most successful firms stayed focused on gaining market share and protecting margins while awaiting a rebound in job requisitions and market confidence. Despite global challenges and pervasive market uncertainty, some firms saw success, building a foundation for even better performance in the future.
According to Bullhorn’s 15th annual GRID Industry Trends Report, which surveyed over 1,500 recruitment industry professionals globally, 2024 was another tough year for recruiting. Notably, 40% of firms reported revenue growth, with nearly a quarter experiencing growth of 10% or more, despite the challenging environment. However, one-quarter of firms saw declines, and the number of revenue winners was down year-over-year for the second consecutive year.
Most firms remain optimistic about the future, with nearly 70% predicting revenue increases in 2025. Interviews with recruiting leaders indicated that many anticipate growth in the latter half of the year. However, there is a caveat: the recovery may not equate to a full return to historical, pre-pandemic norms.
The Bullhorn report emphasizes that while attracting new clients is the top priority for 2025, firms recognize they cannot solely rely on revenue from new clients. They need to find innovative ways to add value through new solutions and services. A significant 77% of firms are focused on increasing market share to position themselves favorably when the market turns upward.
Improving recruiter productivity through technology and diversifying business lines emerged as the next two most popular strategies for enhancing financial performance. The former is expected to reduce expenses, while the latter typically shifts focus to higher revenue or higher-margin services, boosting the bottom line.
"Firms across the world were concerned about the economy and the tight recruitment market that has persisted for nearly two years, leading most to prioritize attracting new clients over all other concerns," the Bullhorn report noted. "Beyond retaining and developing new business, firms remained focused on accelerating and improving the talent experience, benefiting candidates while also enhancing productivity. To accomplish both, firms are relying on automation and increasingly on AI to achieve their critical priorities."
Interestingly, the report found that most firms are still in the early to intermediate stages of digital transformation, despite widespread acknowledgment of its necessity to truly unlock the potential of recruiters and databases. For the first time since 2023, the number of firms claiming to be in advanced stages of digital transformation fell from 21% last year to just 18% this year. This decline likely reflects the advent of AI technology, which has raised the stakes on what digital transformation entails.
Automation has shown a correlation with revenue growth, especially in these challenging economic conditions. The survey revealed that top-performing firms were 57% more likely to be in advanced stages of digital transformation than those experiencing the most significant losses. Furthermore, firms that automated tasks such as candidate searches or applicant screening were at least twice as likely to see revenue growth of 10% or more compared to those that did not automate.
Automating key tasks in the recruitment process also leads to faster placement times. The Bullhorn report found that firms automating candidate searches were 50% more likely to have an average placement time of under 20 days. Similarly, automating screening correlated with an 86% greater likelihood of achieving placement times under 20 days.
"Across the board, automation seems to mean faster placement times, and that is with current automation tools — AI recruitment agents are only going to widen the efficiency gap," the study stated.
When asked which day-to-day processes they most wanted to automate, firms prioritized candidate searches and job matching, closely followed by winning new business. Given that recruiters spend an average of 14.6 hours per week searching for the right candidates, automation in this area is seen as a critical opportunity.
As for AI's role in recruitment, the 2025 GRID Industry Trends Survey clearly indicated that early and extensive adoption of AI agents correlates with revenue growth and improved recruiter productivity. Currently, 15% of firms have purchased or developed AI solutions, while another 52% are experimenting with generative AI, meaning over two-thirds are incorporating AI into their business strategies, up from 59% last year.
"A little less than half of firms have been using AI tools like ChatGPT to assist with recruiter tasks such as generating emails and summarizing candidate skills," the Bullhorn report revealed. Additionally, 45% of firms are already experimenting with AI to sort through candidate resumes and submissions, seeking to identify the best candidates for specific jobs.
Most recruitment executives interviewed emphasized that AI has become a necessity rather than an optional upgrade. They believe that search and match functions will likely be the first and most impactful use case for AI, particularly when recruitment-specific tools trained on their own data become available.
Firms that reported revenue gains in 2024 were more likely to have AI in place to assist with critical tasks like matching candidates to jobs and screening applicants. As AI for recruitment becomes more sophisticated, the differences in performance between firms adopting AI and those that do not are expected to widen.
However, challenges remain. Thirty percent of firms identified recruiter productivity as the biggest obstacle to reducing expenses, while 36% cited data limitations as the primary barrier to realizing AI benefits. When asked about the hurdles to widespread AI implementation, firms overwhelmingly mentioned data-related concerns, including siloed systems and issues with data hygiene.
"There is a lot of data clean-up and governance work that needs to be done to reap the rewards of AI in recruitment," the Bullhorn report concluded.
Looking ahead, Hunt Scanlon has released a positive forecast for the multi-billion-dollar executive search industry, predicting significant growth and deal-making activity through 2030. According to Bullhorn, firms expect AI integration throughout the recruitment workflow could yield an additional 17 hours per week for each recruiter, dramatically enhancing productivity.
As firms continue to navigate this challenging landscape, those that successfully balance technology with the human element of recruitment will likely emerge as the leaders in the industry. The strategies employed today will be crucial in positioning firms to thrive as they adapt to the new normal of recruitment.
