What We’re Hearing from the Market 2025 has been a challenging year for many recruiting firms. Searches slowed, and clients hesitated. Many search firms focused on simply staying lean and weathering uncertainty. But the tone is changing Across conversations with boutique search firms and independents, there’s a growing sense that things are beginning to pick back up, with many expecting real momentum by Q2 next year. Activity is increasing. Confidence is returning. And with t

For years, recruiting tech has been built for enterprise teams, tools with hundreds of fields, dozens of automations, and layers of complexity that small firms never asked for. But a shift is happening. Boutique and solo search firms are quietly redefining what modern recruiting looks like: faster, leaner, more human, and more relationship driven. They move differently. They prioritize differently. And increasingly, they are demanding tools built the way they actually work.