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The recruiting system isn’t working. Recruiters are buried in resumes. Hiring managers are stretched thin. And despite all the tech built to streamline talent acquisition, hiring sites have become so overloaded with filters, assessments, and unnecessary steps that they complicate rather than simplify the process. Finding the right candidate still feels like luck. These are all signs that hiring is broken.
“You’re spending more time, more money, and still coming up short. Top talent gets lost in the clutter. Strong candidates get ghosted. And the process drags on while your competitors move faster,” said Ruffy Galang, CEO and Co-Founder Remote Employee.
“The gap between what businesses need and how they hire is only widening. If you want to close it—and stop losing time, money, and talent—you need a new approach. One that’s built for speed, precision, and real human value.
Let’s break it down—and show you how to fix it.
The State of Hiring in The U.S. in 2025
The U.S. job market is definitely in a slowdown. Companies aren’t expanding like they once were, workers aren’t jumping from job to job as frequently, and job openings just aren’t as plentiful. Even people making big career shifts aren’t seeing the big salary boosts they used to, struggling just to keep pace with rising costs.
Hiring has turned into a stopgap. Full-time roles are out of the picture unless something major goes wrong. Instead, contract work and short-term gigs are taking over, offering flexibility without the long-term commitment.
So what’s causing this freeze? There’s a mix of things at play: economic uncertainty, changing policies, rising costs—pick your reason. With all the unpredictability, companies are playing it safe, keeping headcounts steady even when demand goes up, and cutting fast when it drops.
How the Hiring Process is Broken
Roles that once focused on driving results have become overly procedural. Job descriptions often prioritize internal tools and workflow methodologies over real impact. The focus has shifted from outcomes to processes, leaving high-performing professionals underutilized or disengaged.
Digital hiring platforms have only added to the problem. Most of the market now relies on a single dominant channel, and the result is noise.
Plus, the ease of applying has removed intentionality from the process. Employers receive high volumes of resumes, but few align closely with the role. Candidates apply broadly, often without understanding the specific needs of the job, and rarely hear back.
This flood of applications forces hiring teams to over-engineer job postings, packing in keywords and expanding requirements in the hope of catching the right match.
As Mark Joanis, CEO of American Cable & Telephone recently experienced: “We placed an ad for an office manager and received 265 resumes on the first day. Who has time to go through that?” This overwhelming volume not only wastes time but also makes it harder to find truly qualified candidates.
The result is a system where both sides lose. Employers waste time sifting through irrelevant applications. Candidates disengage after repeated silence. Talent pipelines dry up. Projects stall..
| Learn about the benefits of hiring with an offshore staffing firm:: |
How You Can Stop Losing Out On a Broken Hiring Process
If you’re still screening resumes for college names and buzzwords, you’re already behind. The hiring landscape has changed. If your process hasn’t, it’s costing you.
1. Adopt a Skills-First Approach
73% of employers switched to skills-based hiring a couple of years ago. Hiring decisions grounded in demonstrated skills and verified credentials offer greater accuracy and scalability than those based on pedigree or prior employers.
By prioritizing qualifications such as third-party certifications or work samples, you remove guesswork and reduce reliance on assumptions. This approach enables your hiring team to identify candidates who are prepared to contribute from day one.
2. Streamline the Interview Process
Interviewing should be purposeful and efficient. Requiring a fixed number of interviews for the sake of process undermines speed and agility.
Focus interviews on candidates who have already demonstrated alignment with the role’s requirements. Leveraging objective data to pre-qualify applicants allows you to accelerate decision-making and avoid losing top talent to faster-moving competitors.
3. Eliminate Unnecessary Barriers
Rigid job requirements, such as unnecessary degree mandates, can limit access to capable talent. Companies leading in workforce innovation are reevaluating which qualifications are essential. Removing non-critical requirements not only broadens the talent pool but also supports diversity and inclusion goals.
Stop Hiring Like It’s 2015
Build faster, leaner, high-performing teams with Remote Employee®. Cut labor costs by up to 70%.
4. Prioritize Active Candidate Engagement
Only a fraction of the labor market is actively seeking new opportunities. However, the remaining majority—passive candidates—often possess the experience and capabilities you need.
Engaging this group demands that hiring managers play a direct role in outreach and evaluation. Their insight into the team’s needs makes them essential contributors to the hiring process.
5. Hire With an Offshore Staffing Firm
It takes an average of 44 days to fill a role. The right offshore partner gives you immediate access to skilled professionals at a significantly lower cost, without compromising on quality. You get the same level of expertise, certifications, and output for up to 70% less than you’d pay onshore.
And here’s an important distinction: these aren’t remote freelancers working from home. Offshore team members work on-site in our managed office facilities. It’s our space, fully equipped and professionally run—so your team has the structure, support, and reliability they need to thrive.
You choose who to hire and how they work. We handle everything else: HR, payroll, compliance, and the day-to-day management of the physical office environment.
How to Change Your Hiring Mindset
The hiring landscape has shifted. Experience still matters, but the way people think, learn, and adapt matters more.
1. Hire for Potential, Not Just Experience
The smartest teams aren’t built on resumes alone: They’re built on people who adapt, learn fast, and take ownership. Shift your focus from where someone worked to how they think. Problem-solving ability, curiosity, and coachability should carry just as much weight as technical skills or years of experience.
2. Look Beyond the Resume
Polished applications don’t always reveal who can thrive under pressure. Use interviews to go deeper. Ask how candidates have navigated uncertainty or learned from setbacks. Present open-ended scenarios. You’ll get a clearer view of how they approach real problems.
3. Remove Unnecessary Barriers
Old requirements block great talent. Four-year degrees, for example, often eliminate skilled, motivated individuals who could excel in the role. More companies are moving away from rigid credentialing—not to lower the bar, but to widen the pipeline and reflect today’s reality.
4. Make Growth Part of the Culture
Mindset-first hiring is a must. To retain strong talent, you need a long-term plan for skills development. Offer access to training, certifications, and leadership tracks. Employees stay when they see a path forward—and they leave when they don’t.
5. Align Hiring with Business Agility
Your hiring mindset should reflect how fast your business needs to move. A rigid, pedigree-based process slows you down. A mindset-first strategy gives you people who can scale with the business, pivot when needed, and grow into future roles without constant backfilling.
Changing your hiring mindset is step one. Step two is finding the right partner to help you put that mindset into action—without the overhead, delays, or guesswork. That’s where Remote Employee® comes in.
Ready to Stop Hiring Like It’s 2015?
If you’re tired of stalled pipelines, rising costs, and hiring cycles that go nowhere — it’s time to shift.
At Remote Employee®, we help you build agile, high-performing offshore teams that scale with your business. You stay in control. We handle the red tape. You save up to 70% on labor without cutting corners.
Let’s build a better team—faster, smarter, stronger.
