The Talent Pulse – June 2025

June 29, 2025 — the 2nd June issue of the Talent Crunch Newsletter.

“I believe deeply that those of us in the Talent space have a responsibility to give back to those in other professions. Hiring isn’t just our industry — it shapes opportunities and lives far beyond it.” — Andreea

Everything you’re about to read about, we do pro bono.

Handpicked Berlin — Salary Trends Report 2025

The most detailed local compensation dataset available — 53 job roles, filtered by experience, company size, gender, and more. If you’re hiring, planning budgets, or just want to see how your comp stacks up, this is essential reading. Contact Igor directly on LinkedIn.

Feature Story: 6 Months in the Making

For over six months, we’ve been working with WeAreDevelopers and the HR Leaders Summit to bring something genuinely useful to the community — free for ticket holders at Messe Berlin in July.

1️⃣ Talent Clinics (10–11 July)

• 5 fully staffed stations, 9:00–17:00
• 30-minute advisory sessions
• CV writing, mock interviewing, team-building, leadership, hiring strategy
• Capacity for 140+ attendees, powered by 33 Talent Partners volunteering their time

2️⃣ Exclusive Workshops (9 July)

• ⭐ “I’ve Been Assigned to a Project… Now What?” — Bruno Morgante (Founder, Mantegora)
• ⭐ “The Chief Joy Officer and Decoding Effective Teams” — Max Hunter (Motivators@Work)
• ⭐ “From Grind to Balance” — Dagmar Glow & Veronica Ambrosini

Poll Check-In

Last time we asked: “What’s blocking your summer hiring?” Your answers: budgets on hold, slow approvals, confusing priorities, no clear plan. Many said: “I don’t even know anymore.”

Our take: hiring isn’t slow just because it’s summer. It’s slow because strategy is unclear and teams are stretched.

The Monthly Talent Download

1. 100 Recruiting Tools Worth Knowing

Tim Sackett’s 2025 list — no-nonsense, he’s actually used many of them. From classic ATS to new AI screeners.

2. HR Tech’s €2.5 Trillion Problem

25 years, over €2.5 trillion spent. Hiring outcomes improved just 12%. Marketing improved 115%. The issue: prioritising volume and credentials over relationships and actual performance.
Source: MoneyballHR.

3. “AI-First” Companies: Bold Talk, Messy Reality

Duolingo redesigned work to make AI useful… then backtracked. Klarna tried going all-in on AI for customer service, then rehired humans after quality crashed. Laszlo Bock called this flip-flopping out in a sharp LinkedIn post.

Deep Dive: Deloitte 2025 Human Capital Trends

• AI’s value is amplifying human work, not replacing it
• 60% of workers worry about turnover driven by AI and data collection
• 85% of leaders want agile ways of working; 75% of workers want stability
• Workers face ~10 major changes a year (up from 2 in 2016)
• Companies investing in human performance see 1.8× better financial results

Community Highlights

Talent Spotlight #4 — Anya Voronova

Live now. Check out her story and say hi.

Talent Services Directory — we need help

We pulled everything back to redesign the submission process. Now we need someone to help clean the data and reorganise the form.

Resource Roundup

• Tim Sackett’s 2025 Top Recruiting Technologies
• MoneyballHR — The HR Technology Stack Failure
• Box — Becoming an AI-First Organisation
• Deloitte — 2025 Global Human Capital Trends
• Recruiting Brainfood Big List of In-Person Events 2025