United Kingdom, 13 June 2025 - Hays, the world's leading recruitment and workforce solutions specialist, recently carried out a web poll highlighting the multifaced challenges business leaders face navigating an ever-changing business landscape.

Key findings:

· 42 per cent of respondents chose global market conditions as the biggest factor of increased complexity of business decisions,

· 34 per cent thought it was regulatory changes/compliance,

· 22 per cent nominated digital transformation.

In recent years, businesses have faced challenging market conditions. Inflation, and cost of living crisis have driven many companies to prioritise short-term financial goals over long-term innovation. Hays Salary Guide Data from across 25 countries shows that only 9% of employers have stated that innovation is among their top priorities for the year, alongside increasing operating profit (17 per cent) and gaining market share (15 ). While this approach may make sense in the short term, companies that continue to invest in innovation during downturns are often more resilient.

Innovation enables businesses to keep aligned with the changing needs of its customers. However, traditional corporate structures often have lengthy approval processes that slow down experimentation. With excessive layers of approvals and procedures, businesses often lack the speed and flexibility needed to respond to changing market demands or explore emerging ideas. Which can become a significant barrier to innovation.

When leaders create a culture where employees feel empowered to take calculated risks, and they treat unsuccessful initiatives as learning experiences, employees are then encouraged to experiment with concepts. Reducing bureaucracy can significantly improve productivity. Empowering small, cross-functional teams to make quick decisions can help bypass unnecessary red tape. Innovation must be championed from the top, with leaders actively promoting it in communications and meetings. Encouraging employee participation is crucial, as some of the best ideas come from within, and a safe environment for sharing ideas is essential for success.

Dirk Hahn, CEO at Hays comments:

“For C-suite leaders, driving innovation requires both commitment and action. You’ll need to benchmark your investment against others in your industries. You’ll also have to remove processes and adapt parts of your culture, so people understand that innovation is a priority, and not a “nice to have” when market conditions improve.

“On top of this, you may even have to address attitudes to failure, so you can ensure you’re creating the right environment for innovators to come forward and make suggestions. You’ll also need to consider how you measure success, beyond revenue growth. Companies who are great at innovation also see success in speed to market, improvements in customer experience and employee engagement.

“In a skills short market, your employer brand is crucial to attracting the right talent. Innovation will help you win with customers, but it will also help you overcome talent shortages, keeping you ahead of the competition. You either innovate, or you stagnate.”

Contact

Eunice Lee, Global External Communications Executive, Hays

T: +44 333 010 2648

E: Eunice.lee@hays.com

About Hays

Hays plc (the "Group") is the world’s leading specialist in recruitment and workforce solutions, such as Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) and Managed Service Provider (MSP). The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional, and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK, Germany, and Australia and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As of 31 December 2024, the Group employed over 10,300 staff operating from 225 offices in 33 countries. For the year ended 30 June 2024:

· The Group reported net fees of £1,113.6 million and operating profit of £105.1 million.

· The Group placed around 57,700 candidates into permanent jobs and around 225,000 people into temporary roles.

· 13% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 32% in Germany, 20% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 35% in Rest of World (RoW).

· The temporary placement business represented 59% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 41% of net fees.

· Technology is the Group’s largest division, with 25% of net fees, while Accountancy & Finance (15%) and Engineering (11%), are the next largest.

· Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, the UK, and the USA.