What Employers Think is Happening vs. What Candidates Actually Experience in 2026

The hiring market in 2026 is active. Businesses are recruiting and candidates are moving, while the workforce quietly recalibrates its expectations around AI, flexibility, pay, and progression.

Underneath all of that activity sits a more uncomfortable truth. Employers and candidates are not experiencing the same market. They are looking at the same workplace and seeing completely different things, and those gaps are costing businesses their best people.

We put this to the test in the DNA Recruit 2026 Salary & Hiring Trends Guide, surveying professionals and employers across marketing, creative, agency, and digital sectors. What came back was a report defined not by what people agree on, but by where the disconnects are sharpest.

Here is what the data found:

The pay reversal nobody saw coming

Last year's salary guide told a story of a market rewarding its people. This year, that story has reversed completely.

45% of professionals received no pay rise at all in 2025. The year before, 83% did.

That is a dramatic reversal in twelve months, and it matters because salary remains the single most-cited reason professionals consider a move. If your team has not had a rise and they can get 6-10% elsewhere, which is what the majority expect when they change roles, the question is not whether they will leave. 

The question is when. The businesses that address this proactively will hold onto their people. The ones that assume loyalty will absorb the gap will find out otherwise.

Happy does not mean loyal

Here is the finding that should stop employers in their tracks.

68% of candidates describe themselves as happy or very happy in their current role.

And yet:

• 42% are actively looking for a new job
•  31% are not looking, but open to the right opportunity
• 17% are casually browsing

That means 90% of the workforce is open to moving, even the ones who say they are happy. Satisfaction and commitment are two different things. People can enjoy their work and like their colleagues while still feeling they are not being paid fairly, developed properly, recognised consistently, or given a genuine reason to stay long-term.

"Happiness at work doesn't equal commitment."

The businesses that win at retention will be the ones that ask, regularly, what it would actually take to keep their people.

The progression gap

If there is one disconnect that defines this year's guide, it is this one.

79% of candidates say their employer has no clear progression plan for them.

63% of employers believe they do.

That gap says something important. Either the frameworks are not being explained properly, or candidates do not experience them as real.

When candidates were asked to name their biggest career blocker, the answers were clear:

• Unclear progression - 32%
• Blocked pathways, nowhere to go - 18%
• Glass ceiling - 15%
• Lack of training - 13%
• Lack of mentorship - 9%

The biggest problem is clarity. People cannot see the path. In some cases, they do not believe there is one.

In a market where 90% are open to moving, that is a serious retention risk.

The hiring process is losing candidates before they even start

Employers know their processes need work, and candidates are telling them exactly where. The problem sits in the gap between awareness and action.

The biggest red flags candidates raise during a hiring process:

•  Slow communication or lack of updates - 74%
• No feedback after interviews - 71%
• Unclear or changing job requirements - 58%
• Disorganised interviews - 56%
• Process takes too long - 54%

On speed, the mismatch is stark.

76% of candidates want a hiring process wrapped in four weeks. Only 30% of employers manage it.

Most processes still take six weeks or more. In a market where so many professionals are at least open to a conversation, delays create space for another employer to move faster.

AI is mainstream, but a third of the workforce feels left behind

AI has moved from talking point to business reality. The adoption numbers confirm it.

• 50% of candidates say AI is central to their role and they use it regularly
• 40% use it occasionally
• 9% say it does not apply to what they do
• Which means 90% of candidates now use AI tools at work in some capacity

On the employer side, the impact is tangible. Time savings and productivity gains lead the way, and 80% of employers say AI has not replaced a single role in their business.

But there is a warning in the data that employers cannot afford to ignore.

A third of the workforce feels left behind as new technology is introduced.

Deploying tools without investing in the people using them creates a new kind of divide. The companies that get AI right in 2026 will be the ones that bring their people along for the ride, investing in training and building confidence before pushing for transformation.

Flexibility is being quietly pulled back

The debate about whether flexibility matters is settled. Last year, 66% of candidates said they would decline a job that did not offer it. This year, the question has shifted to how many businesses are quietly pulling it back, and what that is costing them.

The answer is significant. Over a third of candidates say their flexibility has decreased in the past year. The 3-4 day office week is now the dominant model, with 61% of employers operating on that basis.

Every extra mandated office day filters out a portion of your candidate pool.

Flexible working remains the third most common reason people consider a move. Employers pulling people back need to weigh the collaboration benefits against the talent cost. The best candidates have choices, and rigid policies push them towards competitors who offer more autonomy.

The full picture

Every disconnect in this report points to the same underlying issue. Employers and candidates are operating with different information, different expectations, and different experiences of the same workplace. The businesses that close those gaps, on pay, progression, process, and flexibility, will be the ones that attract and keep the best people in 2026.

The DNA Recruit 2026 Salary & Hiring Trends Guide covers all of this in full, including salary benchmarks across every specialism from BD and growth to creative, digital, strategy, social, tech, and beyond.

Download the full guide to get the complete data, the salary tables, and the practical guidance to act on it.