In 2026, many companies are changing their talent strategy. Instead of saying, “Let’s hire more people,” they are asking, “How can we grow the people we already have?” SHRM’s new 2026 Talent Trends Report shows why. In the United States, 68% of HR professionals say it is hard to recruit full-time workers, 42% say retaining full-time workers is difficult, and 41% say their companies train current employees for hard-to-fill jobs. The same report says job rotation programs are very effective for closing talent gaps, but fewer than 25% of HR teams use them. (shrm.org)
This change is also connected to “skills-first” hiring. In SHRM’s 2026 research, HR professionals and supervisors said relevant work experience and demonstrated skills matter more than education when deciding who to hire. About 34% of organizations already use skills-first hiring often or almost always, and among the organizations that do not, 55% are interested in starting. SHRM also found that companies using skills-first hiring more often are more likely to beat financial goals and report a positive company culture. (shrm.org)
But skills-first hiring is only half of the story. Internal mobility—moving workers to new roles, projects, or teams inside the same company—is becoming more important too. LinkedIn’s 2025 Workplace Learning Report says only 36% of organizations are strong “career development champions,” yet these companies are more confident about profitability and talent retention. LinkedIn also found that 88% of organizations worry about employee retention, and learning opportunities are their number one strategy for keeping people. In other words, workers want a future, not just a job. (business.linkedin.com)
The bigger reason is simple: work itself is changing fast. The World Economic Forum says 39% of workers’ core skills are expected to change by 2030, and 59 out of every 100 workers will need reskilling or upskilling. That means companies cannot solve every problem by hiring outside talent. The smarter path in 2026 is often to look inside first, find transferable skills, and help employees grow into the next role. For workers, this is good news: your next opportunity may already be inside your company. (weforum.org)










