Fewer opportunities for early talent 

The job marketplace has contracted significantly for those with less than five years of professional experience. Research published by 麻豆原创 shows that openings in the 10 most common entry-level job titles declined by 35% in just one year, from 2024 to 2025.*

Budget constraints, hiring freezes, and uncertainty around the ROI of early talent as AI increasingly takes on routine and manual tasks are among the reasons cited by HR leaders today.  

Applications skyrocket  

AI is also having a major impact on the recruitment process. With such limited opportunities available, more than half of early talent candidates use AI to help them land a job鈥攁 process that now takes eight months on average and involves more than 300 job applications.*

HR is feeling the pressure managing the candidate pipeline, with聽the number of applicants per early talent job opening doubling since 2021.聽A聽high volume of candidates聽are聽submitting聽AI-generated r茅sum茅s and applications, and it鈥檚 becoming much harder to detect high-fidelity signals around skills, fit, and potential.聽

It鈥檚聽a painful聽scenario for everyone involved. Fragile and unsustainable. And the聽implications聽will be聽profound for enterprises that聽don鈥檛聽act quickly.聽聽

HR leaders voice concerns  

Playing out the current聽trajectory聽to its natural conclusion, what happens when all the聽fresh talent eventually dries up? Already,聽HR leaders聽are alarmed by this risk.聽鈥淯ltimately, if we stop investing in early talent, we will wind up eliminating our talent pipeline,鈥� one聽global head of early talent聽programs at a high-tech organization聽told researchers.*

A senior HR director at a high-tech organization commented: 鈥淚f we continue down this path and don鈥檛 provide a way for early talent to get started, it鈥檚 going to lead to massive skill shortages in the future.鈥� 

Widespread reductions in early talent hiring will lead to skills gaps that聽will聽prove expensive to remedy. Organizations will struggle to build company capabilities,聽retain聽knowledge, and develop future leaders.聽聽

But by far the most common concern from leaders was around not seeing early talent as AI-native. If the AI capabilities of this cohort are overlooked, companies may miss out on a key opportunity to scale AI innovation and adoption across the business.  

What鈥檚 the answer?  

Today,聽there鈥檚聽an opportunity for HR leaders to be more intentional聽and strategic, to reimagine聽their approach聽to early talent from the ground up. With the right early talent strategy, organizations can gain a competitive advantage.

Here are three steps to consider. 

Step 1: Rethink entry-level roles 

Traditionally, junior employees have mainly been given routine, repetitive tasks. Combined with frustratingly slow career progression, the result is eroding morale and commitment.  

This聽approach must evolve.聽The nature of work is changing rapidly,聽and early talent no longer need to take on those routine tasks. These employees need the opportunity to develop at speed and to be supported in performing聽work that聽meaningfully addresses聽business challenges.聽聽

HR has the chance to reshape entry-level positions,聽to provide support, guidance, and tools to enable聽junior staff聽to contribute聽in聽more聽impactful聽ways. This may involve them聽working聽with proper guidance聽to support聽more critical聽projects, interacting with customers,聽and聽even聽owning some tasks end to end.聽

This approach not only enables early talent to contribute more positively to the business at an earlier stage, but when combined with clear goals, regular feedback loops, and occasional coaching, it also fosters greater engagement and commitment. 

Step 2: Support your strategy with technology 

Hiring and developing early talent have become more complex鈥攆rom deciphering AI-generated applications, to redesigning roles and meeting their aspirations in a fast-changing business context. And with the nature of early talent work shifting, leaders need tools to help understand the new capabilities that will predict long-term success and demonstrate the value of early talent initiatives.  

Here鈥檚 where technology can help. During the hiring process,聽technology聽can help聽employers聽see beyond the聽noise of聽AI聽applications聽and rediscover the聽meaningful聽signals聽they聽need to create candidate shortlists and strengthen hiring decisions. Meanwhile, technology can also help to maintain engagement with other high-potential聽candidates聽who applied鈥攆or when the next opportunities arise.聽聽

Once early talent begin work, today鈥檚 technology can help you track their participation in early talent programs and progression towards their goals. It also helps facilitate individualized learning opportunities and demonstrate the ROI of your early talent investments. For research-based recommendations on the role of technology in early talent selection and development, check out this . 

Step 3: Reframe the business case for early talent 

As the nature of early talent work is changing alongside the technology used to support them, HR leaders agree that the old business case for early talent investments needs to be reimagined. Many organizations are focused on mitigating critical skill gaps and engaging in large-scale AI transformations. While early talent lack experience, they are eager to engage in continuous learning and understand how to work effectively alongside AI. 

Research also reveals that鈥攁s they work alongside modern tools and technologies鈥攅arly talent can contribute to high-value, meaningful work much faster than in the past.  

A modern early talent business case is one that involves focusing on faster time to meaningful work, reducing critical skill gaps, and leveraging the AI-native capabilities of today鈥檚 entry-level workers.  

Build your early talent strategy 

Will HR leaders watch on as a generation of AI-savvy talent remains underused, or act now and build the skills pipelines necessary for a future-ready workforce? 

Get further insights on this topic by reading our report, 鈥�.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;痴颈蝉颈迟&苍产蝉辫;辞耻谤&苍产蝉辫; to stay tuned for when phase two of this research gets published later this year. 

Dr. Autumn D. Krauss is chief scientist at 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

*, 麻豆原创, 2026. 

The key to navigating this complexity and building a resilient, future-proof organization lies not in guesswork but in harnessing an organization’s most valuable and often underutilized asset: its people data. By adopting a , HR can evolve from a reactive administrative function into a proactive, strategic driver of business success.

A unified view of your workforce

The first and most significant hurdle for many organizations is the prevalence of data silos. When critical workforce information is scattered across disconnected HR, finance, and operational systems, it is impossible to get a clear, holistic view of the organization. This fragmentation is a major barrier to progress, leading to inefficiencies and compromised decision-making and preventing leaders from seeing the critical connections between their people and business outcomes.

Establishing a HR analytics dashboard as single source of truth for all people-related data is the foundational step. By harmonizing data from across the enterprise, leaders can gain real-time visibility into workforce composition, compensation equity, and internal mobility. This unified view fosters a culture of transparency and provides the clarity needed to make confident, data-backed decisions about organizational structure and .

Turning data into insight with AI

Simply collecting vast amounts of data is not enough. The true power is unlocked when that data is transformed into actionable, forward-looking intelligence. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) and people analytics become essential. The adoption of these technologies is accelerating as well. According to IDC鈥檚 Human Capital Management Survey, 59% of HR talent teams and people leaders are strategizing around new use cases for AI-backed workforce analytics.^*

AI-powered applications can analyze complex data sets to identify patterns, trends, and provide tailored recommendations. This allows HR leaders to forecast talent upskilling and reskilling needs, identify employees at risk of attrition, and understand the drivers of engagement so they can proactively address issues before they impact the bottom line.

Driving strategic results across HR

When a foundation of unified data is combined with the power of , the strategic impact can become tangible across all HR functions, driving better employee experiences.

First, consider employee engagement and retention. Disengagement is a critical issue, with companies facing a 92% likelihood of performance-related revenue losses when employees are disengaged.^** A data-driven approach helps uncover the root causes of turnover by analyzing feedback, performance, and compensation data. This allows organizations to address issues related to skills, workforce composition, or compensation, improving retention and building a more engaged workforce.

Second, in the face of a growing skills gap, data is indispensable. The World Economic Forum predicts that 59% of the global workforce will require reskilling by 2030 to meet changing demands.^*** The allows organizations to map the skills their workforce has against the skills they will need, identifying critical gaps with precision. AI-enabled intelligence applications can then help create for employees, ensuring that training investments are targeted, effective, and directly aligned with future business needs.

Finally, a data-driven strategy revolutionizes the hiring process. By analyzing metrics like time-to-fill, quality of hire, and source effectiveness, organizations can streamline recruiting, reduce bias, and make stronger hiring decisions. This not only enhances the quality of hires but also creates significant efficiencies and time savings, freeing up teams to focus on building relationships with top candidates.

The path to building a resilient and competitive organization is paved with data. By breaking down silos, leveraging the power of AI, and applying insights across the employee lifecycle, businesses can transform their people strategy. This evolution elevates HR into a critical strategic partner, capable of guiding the organization with clarity and confidence. In today’s landscape, a data-driven people strategy is no longer a future aspiration but a present-day necessity for success.

Interested in learning more about how People Intelligence can transform your HR strategy? on the latest trends shaping the future of talent and learn more about the latest AI and data-driven innovations in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions.

Ponti Manolides is a growth priority marketing lead for Learning & Talent at 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.

*IDC, “Spotlight: Optimize Engagement and Business Impact to Maximize the Potential of Your Talent Practice” August 2025.
**IDC, “,” 2025.
***World Economic Forum, “,” January 7, 2025.

Attracting and hiring the best talent is more important and more competitive than ever before. According to the , 70% of organizations plan to hire new staff with emerging in-demand skills by 2030. Yet, more than three-quarters of board members and C-suite executives regard skills and talent availability as a for their organizations.

The message is clear: hiring isn鈥檛 just an HR challenge. It鈥檚 a business imperative.聽

With 麻豆原创鈥檚 recent acquisition of SmartRecruiters, we are thrilled about the opportunity to help our customers face this challenge head-on. As entrepreneurs and business leaders, we鈥檝e been at the forefront of innovation in the HCM market, and we recognize that we are at a pivotal moment that demands more than incremental improvements. Together, we鈥檙e excited to deliver bold innovation and flexibility to help our customers not only attract and hire top talent, but to continuously nurture that talent to learn, grow, and push the boundaries of what is possible.聽

Uniting talent acquisition and HCM leadership

麻豆原创 SuccessFactors HCM is an AI-enabled global suite of HR solutions, expanding across core HR and payroll, talent management, employee experience, analytics, and more. SmartRecruiters is a leading recruiting AI company with the mission of making hiring easy and deep expertise in high-volume recruiting, recruitment automation, and AI-enabled candidate sourcing, experience, and engagement.

Individually, we have led the way in building robust talent acquisition software to empower thousands of organizations to attract, engage, and hire the best talent. United, we are amplifying our impact.

Combining the scale of 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors, the depth of 麻豆原创 Business AI, and the expertise of SmartRecruiters will result in robust benefits for our customers.

• User-friendly interfaces and seamless workflows will provide improved decision-making, reduced time-to hire, and better experiences for candidates, hiring managers, and recruiters.
• Enhanced AI-enabled recruiting and hiring capabilities will deliver faster, smarter, and more equitable recruiting experiences — all with the relevant, reliable, and responsible approach of 麻豆原创 Business AI. We will be able to enhance our ability to deliver intelligent candidate recommendations, predictive hiring insights, and personalized candidate experiences.
• The benefits of bringing our products together extend beyond the hiring process. A single system of record and harmonized data across SmartRecruiters and 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors will provide rich insights into talent pools, hiring bottlenecks, and workforce planning — because talent acquisition is only the start of an employee鈥檚 journey with an organization.聽

Talent acquisition is no longer just about filling roles. Together, 麻豆原创 and SmartRecruiters will help organizations build smarter, more resilient workforces that are agile, skills-driven, and ready to meet the future head-on.

Dan Beck is general manager and chief product officer for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors.
Rebecca Carr is CEO of SmartRecruiters, an 麻豆原创 company.

The SmartRecruiters platform, known for its intuitive user experience and seamless workflows, will now be integrated with the 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Human Capital Management (HCM) suite. This addition to the 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors portfolio will make it easier for enterprises to manage the entire hiring lifecycle, from sourcing to onboarding, with enhanced AI-enabled recruiting capabilities that result in faster time-to-hire, improved candidate experiences and deeper analytics for workforce planning. SmartRecruiters customers will maintain the flexibility to continue using SmartRecruiters solutions with 麻豆原创 or other HCM solutions.

Visit the . Get 麻豆原创 news via  and .

About SmartRecruiters

SmartRecruiters is the Recruiting AI Company that transforms hiring for the world鈥檚 leading enterprises. Built for global scale, SmartRecruiters delivers an AI-powered hiring platform that automates and optimizes the entire talent acquisition process, ensuring faster and smarter hiring decisions. More than 4,000 organizations, including Amazon, Visa, and McDonald鈥檚, rely on SmartRecruiters to build winning teams. For more information, visit聽.

Media contacts:
Joellen Perry, +1 (626) 265-0370,聽joellen.perry@sap.com, PT
Benjamin Nickel, +49 306341070266, benjamin.nickel@sap.com, CEST
Ilaina Jonas, +1 (646) 495-6643,聽ilaina.jonas@sap.com, ET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room;听press@sap.com

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of 麻豆原创鈥檚 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2025 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see  for additional trademark information and notices.