Hiring will come back. Most organizations are not ready.

Fall is here.

Budgets are being confirmed. Roles that were put on hold are coming back. And hiring managers are starting to ask the question that was off the table for much of the year: When can we open positions?

The outlook is positive.

Three quarters of Canadian hiring managers feel good about hiring for the rest of 2026. Half plan to increase contract hiring, while roughly two thirds expect to grow permanent headcount.

Companies want to hire.

The bigger question is whether they are actually ready to do it well.

74% of hiring managers feel positive about H2 2026
32% already have open roles they cannot fill
86% expect hiring to remain challenging

Hiring is picking up. Hiring is not getting easier.

There is an interesting contradiction in the market right now.

Applications are not necessarily the problem. Recruiters can post a role and receive hundreds of them. But anyone working in talent acquisition knows that more applications do not automatically mean more qualified candidates.

Sometimes, it simply means more time spent looking for the right people.

The market has changed, but many hiring processes have not changed with it.

Companies have invested in new technology, AI and automation, yet candidates are still going through five interviews, waiting days for feedback and getting stuck while another approval is added to the process.

Before looking for more candidates, it may be worth looking at the process they are being asked to go through.

Your hiring process probably has more friction than you think.

Take your last few hires and look at what actually happened.

How long did it really take from the first conversation to the signed offer? Where did candidates wait? Which interview gave you information you did not already have? Which step could have disappeared without changing the final decision?

These are simple questions, but organizations rarely look at their hiring process from the candidate's side.

Internally, waiting four days for feedback might not feel significant. There are meetings, travel, competing priorities and difficult calendars. The candidate does not see any of that. They simply see four days of silence.

And while you are waiting, they may be interviewing somewhere else.

Your next great hire may already be in your network.

Recruiting teams spend a lot of time searching for new candidates. Sometimes the better place to start is with the people you already know.

Think about the finalist who was excellent but not quite right six months ago. The candidate who accepted another offer. The person you met at an event and meant to stay in touch with. What happened to those relationships?

The strongest candidates are not always actively applying. Many are doing well where they are, but would listen if the right person approached them about the right opportunity. That is why a talent pipeline should not suddenly appear when a requisition opens.

Stay connected before you need something. A genuine message today can be worth far more than another hundred applications later.