Widening skills gaps and increasing hiring complexity continue to be issues hiring managers are facing in the early stages of 2026, new research from talent solutions and business consulting firm Robert Half has found.
Of the 2,000 hiring managers surveyed, nearly two-thirds (62%) said skills gaps are more pronounced than one year ago, and just 6% reported having the talent they need to complete high-priority projects.
Talent shortages are still a problem, and only a small percentage of managers across several key disciplines reported having the talent they need to complete priority projects:
- Legal (1%)
- Marketing and creative (4%)
- Finance and accounting (6%)
- Healthcare (7%)
- Human resources (7%)
- Technology (7%)
- Administrative and customer support (12%)
Despite these gaps, employers are optimistic about the year ahead. More than eight in 10 managers (83%) said they are confident in their business outlook for 2026, and of those, 43% said they expect strong company growth.
In addition, 60% said they plan to add permanent staff in the first half of 2026, and 55% said they expect to increase contract hiring to support immediate needs.
“As skills gaps continue to widen, employers aren’t standing still,” Dawn Fay, operational president of Robert Half, said in a statement. “Organizations are leaning into a mix of permanent and contract hiring to close critical gaps, stay agile, and keep priority initiatives moving forward.”
While hiring plans remain strong, the process itself is becoming more difficult. Nearly two-thirds of managers (65%) said hiring has become harder due to the rise in AI-generated applications, and 58% reported greater difficulty identifying truly qualified candidates compared to one year ago.
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As generative AI tools enable candidates to produce highly polished resumes, applications, and work samples, employers are spending more time validating qualifications and job readiness, adding friction to the hiring process and increasing the risk of misalignment.
“Generative AI has changed how employers evaluate talent,” Fay said. “When applications appear strong on the surface but don’t always reflect real capabilities, it becomes much harder to assess skills and make confident hiring decisions. More organizations are increasingly relying on partners who can rigorously evaluate talent and help them hire with greater certainty.”
Photo credit: Andrii Yalanskyi/iStock
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