The recruitment market has become quieter. Vacancy levels have fallen, redundancies have released more people into the market and many employers are receiving far more applications than they were a few years ago...which should make hiring easier. In some respects, it does. Businesses have more choice and may be able to reach candidates who were previously difficult to engage. But a softer market can also create false confidence. More available candidates can quickly lead to a bigger wish list, and a belief that the perfect person must now be out there somewhere.
More applications do not mean more suitable candidates
The latest UK labour-market figures show that vacancies have fallen to approximately 702,000, while payrolled employment has also declined. Across Europe, the vacancy rate has dropped too. (Source: ONS UK Labour Market Overview – September 2026).
The market is undoubtedly giving employers access to more people. However, that does not mean every specialist talent pool has suddenly become deep. A payments business might receive 150 applications for a role and still find only a handful of people with genuinely relevant experience across acquiring, orchestration, issuing, fraud, regulated operations or enterprise payments sales. Candidate volume and candidate suitability are not the same thing.
The brief can become narrower as the market becomes wider
One of the most common mistakes I see is a business restricting a search to candidates from two or three admired competitors:
“We like their technology, so we want somebody from one of those companies.”
It sounds logical, but it is rarely a complete recruitment strategy. Someone working for a respected competitor may have inherited mature technology, established processes and a recognised brand. That does not automatically mean they can build something new, operate with fewer resources or succeed in a business at a different stage of growth. It can also exclude excellent candidates from adjacent areas who understand the same customers, commercial problems or payment flows and may bring more relevant experience of building, transforming or scaling. The best search is not always the one that produces the most obvious CV. It is the one that identifies the capabilities required to deliver the outcome.
If you are unsure whether a payments brief is too narrow, I am always happy to provide an honest view of the market before the search begins.
Separate what's essential from what's preferred
Before approaching the market, employers should distinguish between:
- Experience the person must possess from day one
- Knowledge they could develop after joining
- Preferences that would be helpful but are not essential
- Requirements included simply because the previous jobholder had them
If every preference becomes mandatory, the available pool can shrink from dozens of credible candidates to three theoretical ones. Those three may not be interested, affordable or suited to the culture. A softer market does not make that problem disappear.
Trust the search & be honest during the briefing
A good recruitment process should test the original assumptions rather than merely repeat them. That requires an honest briefing. The recruiter needs to understand the genuine priorities, budget, working environment, decision-making structure and challenges awaiting the successful candidate. It also means allowing the search to uncover people who may not match the imagined profile exactly but can still achieve the required result. Trusting the search process does not mean lowering standards. It means assessing the evidence and remaining open to strong candidates from outside an unnecessarily narrow target list.
Better availability should lead to better decisions
The current market offers employers an opportunity. They can access more candidates, benchmark expectations properly and make carefully considered appointments. But the opportunity is lost if greater availability simply produces longer specifications, more interview stages and a search for somebody who may not exist. A quieter market gives employers more choice. It does not make the perfect candidate suddenly appear. The strongest hiring strategy remains the same: define the outcome, identify the essential capabilities, be honest about the opportunity and keep the talent pool wide enough to find the best person, not merely the most familiar company name.
If you are hiring within payments or FinTech and would like help testing the brief, benchmarking the salary or mapping the relevant talent pool, please contact me for an informal and confidential conversation: bn@payments-recruitment.co.uk
