District: 2025 Recruiting Trends & Benchmarking
As we come to the end of Q1, some clear trends have emerged for Recruiting in 2025. This report is gathered from multiple sources, primarily surveys of technical startups and self-reporting by founders. Sources are linked, where possible. If you have follow-up questions, or want help putting this information into action at your company, please reach out to margot@kamiros.co.
Behind the Curve
“Succession Planning” Isn’t Just for Legacy Companies
Hiring senior leaders has always been difficult, but in today’s market, it’s particularly challenging. The most difficult roles to fill? CROs and CMOs, largely due to limited candidate pools and highly specific industry experience requirements. Startups are feeling the pressure during hiring–on average, executive hires take six months to fill, with some roles stretching even longer. If you are not addressing this through planning, you won’t just find yourself in extended external searches to fill new executive roles, but an “executive growth gap” will contribute to regrettable attrition (45% of employees citing lack of career growth as their reason for leaving).
Actionable Tip:
Consider succession planning at every stage of growth. Start thinking about it now—identify team members who can assist in interviews, transition into managerial roles, or eventually step into executive positions. Invest early in leadership development to prevent an “executive growth gap” and avoid costly external searches.
Current Trends
Integration of AI in Recruitment
This year, 82% of companies report using AI for screening of candidates. While this enhances efficiency, the costs of such a strategy for early-stage startups may be hard to capture. Relationships with stakeholders are a key draw of startups, so lead with that in your process—AI screens can be low-signal on interest and result in low engagement for candidates.
Actionable Tip:
Leverage AI in invisible ways that still save you time, but don’t compromise your ability to connect with candidates. AI sourcing tools and note takers for summarizing interview feedback are two places to start integrating AI into your hiring. My personal favorite sourcing tool for non-recruiters is JuiceboxAI. While there isn’t a standout purpose-built notetaker for recruiting, Fathom is a great tool if you interview on Zoom or Google Meet.
JuiceboxAI: https://juicebox.ai/?via=5f5c80
Fathom: https://fathom.video/invite/7fXedg
Compensation is Stable
Many startups are maintaining stable compensation strategies, with 61% planning no changes to cash pay and 72% keeping equity grants the same. Some reports suggest base pay for smaller companies is increasing at a slightly higher rate of 3.8% in 2025. According to a16z’s 2025 State of Startups Report, many compensation components remain steady over last year. Rather than overhauling benefits or offering widespread promotions—which can introduce extra management layers and reduce efficiency—startups can focus on integrating targeted incentives, like spot bonuses, tied to measurable business impact or expanded responsibilities in 2025.
Actionable Tip:
Stability in the market means fewer worries about attrition, but does not stop the need for “succession” and retention planning. Consider adding a budget for performance or spot bonuses that make employees feel appreciated without driving up dedicated headcount costs, and provide short-term encouragement in line with long-term growth.
Revenue-Driven Headcount Planning
Startups are increasingly aligning hiring decisions with revenue performance to ensure financial discipline. Over 51% of companies now explicitly tie their hiring strategies to revenue metrics. Even if this growing trend is not appropriate for your startup, be aware this may impact your board’s expectations for headcount reporting, as the trend grows across the industry.
Actionable Tip:
Aligning headcount with revenue and quarterly planning helps you keep an eye on cost per hire and enhance strategic discussions around workforce planning that supports overarching business objectives.
Ahead of the Curve
Softening AI Talent Markets
It’s coming (finally)! The maturation of AI startups founded around 2020 has led to a stable of startup-experienced engineers, who are ready to move on. Given attrition rates of 16-25% at tech startups, engineers from the 2020 boom are now seeking new opportunities, contributing to a more balanced supply and demand in the AI talent market. Additionally, advancements in AI automation tools are reducing the need for certain technical roles, further influencing the job market.
Actionable Tip:
Now is a prime time to tap into talent from AI startups that experienced rapid growth between 2020 and 2022. It is worth reaching out to engineers who have been at an AI startup for 3-4 years.
In-Person Work: Mandates vs. Startups
For better or worse, conversations around remote/hybrid/in-office work have become charged post-COVID. Mandates to “return to office” have polarized employers and employees. Blanket return-to-office mandates come off as a lack of trust, making high-agency, productive candidates (that startups prefer) especially wary. Alternatively, flexible work arrangements remain prevalent amongst startups trying to gain a strategic edge in hiring, allowing companies to access a global talent pool and accommodate diverse employee preferences.
Actionable Tip:
If you are competing for talent against remote or other hybrid opportunities, it is important to (re)frame your reasons for working together. Startups should be proactive about explaining why they have the policies they do and emphasizing trust and ownership as company values. Are you ok with employees coming in late and staying late to avoid traffic? You need to say so, as part of your in-office work culture.
As Matt Loop, VP and Head of Asia at Rippling, said, “Employers should be transparent about their expectations – after all, it’s within their right to establish how they want work to be done.”
Takeaways
The 2025 Recruiting landscape will be shaped by how well companies navigate sourcing challenges, AI adoption, internal mobility, and strength of employer culture. The most successful startups will be:
Investing in internal succession planning to quickly fill key roles.
Strategically using bonuses to create a culture that rewards ongoing growth.
Leveraging AI for internal recruiting processes, to free up time for more engagement with candidates.
Building their employer brand through transparency and proactive communication of company policies and cultural values.
