August ‘26 - what a month!
What a summer , hottest on record for most of us, and also a genuinely unsettled time in Market Research recruitment. Growth headlines sit right alongside stories of businesses resizing and restructuring, and the AI conversation running through every one of my industry WhatsApp groups still feels raw and unresolved when it comes to the impact on the people actually doing the work.
Supply & demand: Consolidation is reshaping who's available, Cint went private in August, and agencies keep restructuring, which has loosened generalist researcher supply. AI-capable leadership is the opposite story: MFour just poached Amazon's former analytics chief, because that skillset barely exists natively inside research talent pools. Expect more cross-industry poaching for senior AI/data roles.
Salary: No broad uplift, but real premiums for people who can genuinely judge AI output rather than just operate it often commanding packages well above typical research bands.
Biggest challenge: Research Live's trade coverage nailed it this month. The differentiator isn't just about developing a new skill, it's the ability to critically evaluate the data and catching when synthetic data doesn't hold up, or when an AI-moderated interview missed the point. Most candidates can demonstrate an ability to use the tools; fewer can catch when the tools are quietly wrong.
Questions worth asking yourself: How do you factor this into your hiring process, when the skills themselves are still evolving? I think it comes down to attitude and aptitude. Do your staff want to build new skills, and can they adapt to a changing model? Do you have the strategy and the skillset to embed the right AI practices into your workflows, in a way that actually answers your clients' needs?
We've also seen a lot of coverage on how flawed AI is in recruitment itself — people with strong core skills overlooked or rejected for having "too much" experience. This is hitting the over-50s hardest, and they're often exactly who you need: more time and energy to give, and the confidence to deliver.
@The Hasson Partnership we have kicked off a couple of really interesting searches and enjoyed being out and about meeting old and new clients in August. August was our busiest months for in person meetings - perfect for the sunshine.
Follow us on LinkedIN to make sure you are connected with us and we’ll be able to keep you informed of any relevant positions.
Top tips for Autumn:
Skip tool-familiarity questions in interviews. Show candidates a flawed AI output and see if they catch it.
Audit your hiring process — is your recruiter giving you a diverse shortlist? Is your workforce representative? If you are hiring yourself are you accessing the best candidates.
If you're a researcher: future-proof your career by being commercial, being strategic, and staying curious about AI. This is relevant at all stages of your career - some great tips in here https://www.research-live.com/article/opinion/what-18-displaced-insight-leaders-can-teach-us-about-the-professions-future/id/5150986 .
Events coming up:
WiRE European Summit — wearewire.org/programmes/wire-exec — still time to register
MRS B2B Research Conference (23 Sept)
Foresight Conference (14 Oct)