What do you call a year that felt like a grind…but actually moved you forward?

You call it 2025!

It certainly wasn’t a fireworks year for most staffing firms. It was more a year of survival. But it also was a foundation-building year—a time when we didn’t just fill orders—we reinvented how staffing gets done.

For most of the staffing industry, the week between Christmas and New Year’s is time to reflect. A time for gratitude. A time for thinking about the future.

So for today’s SMART IDEA, I want to take advantage of the season to break from my normal format to do a little reflecting, share a few observations, and outline my 2026 wish list.

Part 1: Reflections: A tough year with hidden growth

If I had to pick one word for 2025? My choice would be...CHAOS!

Not just in staffing. In politics. The economy. AI. Everywhere you turned, the world was basically saying “Deal with it!”

Consider what the past 12 months have been like in the staffing industry:

AI got real

AI was the theme at every conference. Not with flashy new apps, but practical tools that transform how sales and recruiting get done.

• More powerful LLMs that can accurately summarize resumes, write job posts, and craft follow-up emails.

• AI assistants that manage scheduling, accelerate matching, and conduct screening interviews.

• Conversational AI platforms that can instantly reach out to all qualified candidates and find fills in minutes rather than days.

• AI notetakers that can analyze meetings, provide instant coaching to salespeople, and spot trends to improve sales performance.

This year, AI wasn't about replacing people. It was about removing friction, improving candidate experiences, and delivering faster results for clients.

AI got real – the dark side

But it wasn’t all good news on the AI front.

While AI was great for productivity and empowering sales and recruiting, there was also a dark side.

Fake resumes. Cluttered inboxes. An explosion of AI-slop content.

Which brings us to a second truth:

In a world flooded with noise, trust becomes your most critical advantage.

Being known as the staffing partner who filters, vets, and delivers with confidence? That’s what wins.

Sales got harder…and smarter

2025 sales? Brutal.

Clients stayed cautious. Budgets stayed tight. Procurement got tougher. And the HR and hiring managers? Often under-resourced and overwhelmed.

Here’s how smart staffing firms fought back:

• Back to basics: More sales calls. More account follow-up. More face-to-face.

• Depth over breadth: Instead of chasing new clients, they deepened relationships with existing accounts.

• Sharper client selection: They walked away from low-margin, high-drama clients. Said no to unreasonable terms. Protected their teams.

• Serious retention and redeployment—not because it was trendy, but because the cheapest placement is the one you don’t have to replace.

Some firms got lean. Some also got strong.

Tight years reveal character. Many staffing companies scaled back and simplified. And in doing so, some of them got a lot stronger:

• Trimmed tech stacks and streamlined vendors.

• Flattened org charts to reduce handoffs.

• Prioritized profitability by client, role, and branch.

Others exited the field altogether. Merged. Downshifted. That didn’t automatically clear the field, but it did reset the table.

So if you’re reading this? CONGRATULATIONS! You’re a survivor.

And you deserve a round of applause just for being here.

Now it’s time to get ready for 2026.

There are a few things we already know:

Selling will remain tough

While there are more positive signs in the labor market, it still won’t be easy to sell.

Clients will expect more value (and faster response). Margin pressures will remain strong. Qualified talent will be hard to source.

On the positive side, you’ll face fewer competitors, so that may help.

AI will get smarter and more capable.

You will seem more AI assistants, and very likely, the first true agentic solutions (AI that runs independently).

These tools will offer more to empower your teams. And at the same time, they'll threaten your value. We’ve already seen an explosion of “AI Recruiter” platforms. Expect to see more in 2026.

In the New Year, it’s not a matter of when you’ll create your AI strategy, the only question is what will you implement…and how far will you take AI and automation.

Employers will need more assistance.

HR and Talent Acquisition departments got leaner in 2025, so they will need your support even more.

AI will continue to make it harder for employers to hire (too many resumes…and too much fake content) and harder for job seekers to find work (too hard to break through the AI clutter).

And that’s where you come in.

AI’s growth in recruiting actually increases the value of having a trusted staffing and recruiting partner who can break through the AI overwhelm.

Part 2: My wish list for 2026

Let’s end on a hopeful note. Not predictions. Just a few things I’d love to see:

More humanity. We’ll get back to basics. People caring. Being considerate. Demonstrating manners. Putting others' interests first.

Technology will make us better (instead of trying to replace us). I want to see AI truly become an assistant—a reliable ally we all have to eliminate crap work, focus on our “zone of genius”, and live more fulfilling lives.

Craftsmanship over shortcuts. Less AI-slop. More thoughtful submissions. I hope we’ll see increased pride in the quality of the work we deliver (AI will make unprecedented quality possible).

Clients who partner. Employers that recognize the strategic value of staffing and truly appreciate having the right staffing partner.

Respect for temporaries. I hope we’ll see better onboarding, safer workplaces, clearer communication, and stronger integration into the workforce.

Sanity and civility returning to the world. Somehow, someway, we will get back to our leaders actually working for the overall good of the country and the planet—and not the own self-interests. (I told you, this is a wish list!).

The Bills finally in a Superbowl. Go Bills!

From all of us at Haley Marketing, I want to wish you and your family nothing but the best, and I hope you have a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.

See you in 2026!