The tussle for talent has collided with economic reality, and the old playbook—hire externally, hope they stay—no longer works.

AI is reshaping roles faster than the market can supply new skills. Gen Z builds personal brands and side hustles, viewing employers as chapters, not careers. Meanwhile, economic pressure forces companies to do more with existing resources while employees demand visible growth or they'll find it elsewhere. In this landscape, the competitive advantage isn't who you can attract—it's who you can keep, grow, and redeploy.

As Ogilvy Talent looks at the year ahead, we see the smartest organizations abandoning the external-first default and turning inward. The future belongs to companies that treat their existing workforce not as static headcount, but as dynamic talent worth continuously re-recruiting into new opportunities, skills, and paths.

Below are Ogilvy Talent's 2026 predictions:

Re-recruiting Your Talent

What do we expect?
The future of hiring shifts from external- first to internal-first for critical roles. Organizations will leverage AI-powered talent marketplaces to continuously deploy and upskill their workforce. Over half of high-impact positions will be filled internally, with employees proactively “re-recruited” into new projects or development paths every 12-18 months, fostering dynamic internal talent flow.

Where are we now?
Currently, internal mobility is discussed aspiration, but a clunky reality. Companies default to external hiring, treating internal candidates an afterthought. Internal job boards are static, disconnected, and lack sophistication to match skills. The burden falls on employees, leading to frustration, “quiet quitting,” external job searches. The opportunity lies in integrated, AI-driven internal talent ecosystems.

What is forcing us to look closer at it?
Lack of internal opportunity drives attrition. Post-pandemic, employees, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, demand continuous growth, development, and visible career pathways. With skills-based hiring and rapid skill changes, we cannot rely on other organizations developing talent we need. We are more agile preparing our existing talent.

Why does it matter?
Clear, personalized internal career paths dramatically boost employee engagement, loyalty, and retention. They also unlock untapped potential within the existing workforce, transforming employees from static resources into dynamic, multi-skilled assets.