Business & Technology
Charles Hipps sees five recruitment trends for 2026
Oleeo Chief Executive Officer Charles Hipps has outlined five recruitment trends he believes will shape hiring in 2026, highlighting growing pressure on employers as application volumes rise and candidate expectations shift.
Hiring teams are managing much larger applicant pools without a matching increase in recruitment headcount. Some campaigns now attract more than 20,000 applicants, while application volumes across several sectors are rising by 40% year on year.
That imbalance is changing how employers handle the early stages of selection. Instead of relying on recruiters to screen large numbers of CVs manually, companies are turning to tools and processes that identify suitable candidates earlier in the hiring journey.
Pressure on teams, Hipps argued, means employers need to rethink how they narrow longlists. The goal is to identify strong candidates efficiently without creating excessive workloads for hiring staff.
Assessment shift
One of the main changes Hipps identified is the growing use of structured and behavioural assessments at the start of the process. In his view, these are beginning to replace the CV as the first point of evaluation for many employers.
The shift reflects a broader effort to assess potential and job fit earlier, rather than relying mainly on educational background or previous employers. Qualities such as resilience, adaptability and determination are gaining more weight in initial screening.
He linked the move to both efficiency and fairness. Reducing manual sorting allows employers to handle larger candidate volumes while widening the basis on which applicants are judged.
Changing expectations
Hipps also said candidate expectations are changing, particularly among younger workers entering the labour market. Flexibility, career progression and workplace culture are increasingly seen as core requirements rather than optional benefits.
That puts pressure on employers with more rigid working practices. Those that fail to adapt risk losing candidates to rivals offering more flexible arrangements and clearer development paths.
Hipps added that employers with adaptable policies are seeing stronger retention and engagement. In his view, workplace flexibility is becoming tied not only to talent attraction but also to broader workforce performance.
Interview bottlenecks
While technology and assessment methods may ease pressure earlier in the process, interviews remain a significant operational challenge. Scheduling and conducting interviews at scale becomes harder when senior decision-makers are involved and candidate experience must still be maintained.
For many businesses, that creates a bottleneck after initial screening. Recruitment leaders are therefore being pushed to simplify interview stages and make each step more focused on specific competencies.
Hipps said structured interviews and stronger early-stage assessment can reduce unnecessary complexity. That approach, he suggested, allows organisations to maintain standards as hiring volumes grow.
Strategic role
Across his comments, Hipps presented recruitment as a business function moving beyond an administrative role. Employers are redesigning hiring processes in response to scale, labour market shifts and the need to make selection decisions more consistently.
The broader message is that recruitment is becoming more closely tied to workforce planning and organisational strategy. Employers that can update their processes without undermining fairness or overloading staff are likely to be better placed in a competitive market for talent.
Jayden, 13 launched Jay’s Bakes from his home in Taunton Road in Bicester on Saturday, June 20.
His late nan, a keen baker herself, was the inspiration behind his passion, as well as time spent helping his uncle with his catering business.
Over the last 18 months he has honed his skills by preparing sweat treats every day after school.
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Determined to turn his hobby into something more, Jayden spent two and a half months researching requirements, gaining his Level 2 food hygiene certificate and officially registering his business, mostly without adult intervention.
After four days of preparation, the business officially launched.
Customers were treated to a wide selection of homemade goods, including M&M cookies, Kinder brownies, Biscoff cookies, Victoria sponge trays, lemon drizzle cups and viral ‘dot cakes’.
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His Kinder brownies proved particularly popular, and by the end of the day he had sold out of everything, taking £210.
Despite feeling “excited and a bit nervous” beforehand, Jayden said the opening was a success, with a strong turnout and positive feedback shared on social media.
His favourite moment came when he officially opened the shed by cutting the ribbon.
Supported by his mum, stepdad, grandparents and uncle, Jayden first began selling from a table in May before building and painting his now-signature blue cake shed.
He now plans to continue baking and selling regularly, bringing his creations to the local community.
Lidl has been given planning permission to build its ninth supermarket in Oxfordshire, despite concerns over flooding.
Aldi opened in Didcot in 2015 and has a supermarket at the Jubilee Way roundabout but shoppers in the town have had to wait over a decade for Lidl to follow.
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South Oxfordshire District Council has now backed plans by the German retailer for a new supermarket in Abingdon Road.
Former Didcot mayor Mocky Khan said: “This give the residents of Didcot more choice, especially when you consider the cost of living environment we have at the moment.
“The town is growing with more new homes being built, and with more growth it’s good to have a wide variety of supermarkets to fit all budgets,”
The plans for the new supermarket were first submitted in 2024.
Didcot Town Council previously objected to the scheme, on the grounds of a lack of flood risk mitigation measures, along with the county council who said there was “insufficient information”.
The town council noted there are “several flooding incidents in the area, especially when the Marsh Bridge water pumps fail”.
But in a report by planning officers granting permission to the supermarket, those issues have now been addressed by Lidl.
The officers said the proposals “largely accord” with the policies around planning, and more can be done to “break up” the car park with greenery.
Planning officers chose to let Lidl build the new supermarket subject to conditions.
They said in a report: “Balanced against this policy conflict is the fact that this is a previously developed site, which is currently in a dilapidated state.
“The proposals represent a significant improvement on the current underutilisation of the site and on its appearance.
“The National Planning Policy Framework and Local Plan set out significant support for the reuse of previously developed land.
“As stated in the applicant’s planning statement, there have been previous enquiries as to the redevelopment of the site that have not come to fruition.
“Given this, finding a viable use for the site is a clear benefit which I consider to be of substantial benefit.”
Thirty-four residents had objected to Lidl’s plans, highlighting concerns over extra traffic, there being no need for another supermarket in the town and there being more appropriate locations to build in their view.
Didcot already has an Aldi store just off Broadway and a Sainsbury’s, M&S Foodhall and Asda.
The nearest Lidl to the proposed site are in Lupton Road, Wallingford, and Marcham Road in Abingdon.
Three people wrote in to support the new Lidl, recognising the benefits of a discount food store and the further jobs it will create.
Lidl has said its proposals for a Didcot supermarket would deliver 40 full-time equivalent jobs as well as further employment during the construction phase.
No opening date was given by the retailer, while the developer is currently on site progressing with the enabling works.
A spokesman said: “We’ve seen demand for our affordable, high-quality products continue to rise in Oxfordshire, and we are committed to serving more communities in the area.
“Our new store will create around 40 new jobs and build on our continued growth.
“We’re excited to be a step closer to opening this store and thank everyone who has supported us on our journey so far.”
It also said the £12m investment would work with the 6,300 new homes allocated to be built, as per the local plan.
Dalcour Maclaren, a specialist in utilities and infrastructure, announced the news on June 22, following a detailed assessment of its operations, including governance, employee wellbeing, environmental impact, and social responsibility.
James Neil, CEO of Dalcour Maclaren, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Dalcour Maclaren.
“B Corp status gives us the official badge that recognises everything that matters most to us in our culture, our values, and how we make decisions for our people and our clients. We thrive on doing things differently at DM and B Corp absolutely endorses this.”
The certification means the company meets rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
Dalcour Maclaren now joins more than 10,000 B Corps worldwide and over 2,600 in the UK, including well-known names such as The Guardian, Innocent Drinks, Patagonia, and The Big Issue.
Chris Turner, CEO of B Lab UK, said: “Welcoming Dalcour Maclaren to the B Corp community is hugely exciting. Its commitment to doing business differently will be an inspiration to others and will help spread the notion that success in business is as much about people and planet as it is profit.”
Dalcour Maclaren operates across the UK and Ireland, supporting major projects in energy, water, transport, and digital infrastructure. The company’s services include land, planning, environment, stakeholder engagement, and geospatial services.
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