Gartner HR Research Finds Only 31% of Recruiting Teams Use Labor Market Data to Inform Their Talent Strategy

As the labor market undergoes unprecedented and rapid transformation, only 31% of recruiting functions are leveraging labor market data to shape their business and talent strategies, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc., a leading business and technology insights firm.

“Given the evolving labor market, organizations must constantly adapt their workforce strategies to meet their ever-changing skills requirements,” said Jamie Kohn , Research Director in the Gartner HR Practice. “Recruiting is HR’s window to the external labor market. Recruiting leaders are uniquely positioned to detect challenges early, so organizations can get ahead of major shifts.”

Gartner has identified three main challenges threatening the viability of organizations’ current talent management strategies:

• Shifting skills demand as organizations adapt their strategy and operations to AI, as well as economic and geopolitical shifts
• Scarcity of critical skills resulting from aging workforces and immigration policy shifts
• Unpredictable candidate expectations, with candidates becoming highly selective even in a cooling job market

Gartner recommends recruiting leaders take three actions to improve talent strategy effectiveness:

According to a July 2025 Gartner survey of 426 CHROs, 42% listed SWP as a top priority. While recruiting plans for roles needed within the next year, SWP focuses on the skills required to meet long‑term goals three to five years out.

Recruiting leaders can support SWP with insights on changing skills to inform what leaders should hire for in the future. They can also support location strategy decisions to make sure a local market can support the organization’s talent needs.

“We are still seeing significant talent shortages in the market for some skills,” said Kohn. “Organizations can’t take for granted that they can find the talent needed to execute their strategies. They need to bring an external market perspective to drive strategic workforce planning success.”

Only a small fraction of CHROs say workforce planning at their organization is agile and able to respond to unforeseen circumstances, such as geopolitical events, economic policy and rapid technology changes.

Recruiting leaders can track and communicate early signs of talent risks to support strategic pivots by HR leadership. For example, an expected increase in competition for a critical role may lead organizations to hire earlier to avoid paying salary premiums. 

In response to new AI-driven technologies, many organizations are reshaping existing roles. However, only a small percentage of recruiting functions share labor market data to influence job design.

“If organizations aren’t providing what candidates want, they will struggle to attract and retain top talent. Recruiting data can inform adjustments that make roles more compelling,” said Kohn. “

Recruiting leaders should collaborate with business leaders to design appealing EVP-aligned roles that will attract high-quality talent using market data and insights on candidate personas and motivators."

For additional information, Gartner clients can read more in the report:  Recruiting’s New Talent Strategy Mandate.