One Step Forward?
Why companies have become more aggressive both about spending and hiring.
For all of 2025 and the first part of 2026, it felt like many organizations entered a defensive crouch. Unless it was for something AI related, there was almost no new net spending or hiring. But as spring is now turning to summer, a glimmer of change appears to be on the horizon—a gingerly change.
According to the latest government figures, the nation’s companies added, on average, 180,000 jobs a month over the last three months. The number of job openings has risen 15% in 2026. Plus, US manufacturers are expanding at their fastest clip in five years. “It’s opening up,” says Justin Ripley, a senior client partner in Korn Ferry’s Global Industrial practice.
Experts attribute the change to a variety of reasons. Leaders are enduring the various shocks regularly popping up and shrugging them off. “Once you know you’re not free falling, people make investments,” Ripley says.
The mad scramble to build out AI infrastructure was coming at the expense of other initiatives. But now, more companies are thinking what type of roles and skills will be needed once AI is part of a firm’s everyday workflow. “It’s not broad-based hiring, but you’re seeing companies target specific skill sets, either industry or function-related, to go after,” says Scott Sette, a senior client partner in Korn Ferry’s Global Healthcare Services practice.
Indeed, many organizations wanted to see how much talent they really needed in the AI era. HR leaders didn’t want to hire for open spots if technology was going to soon fill the role. Now, organizations see that they’ll need humans. “HR leaders are saying, ‘I need these roles in the short and medium term,’ says Dennis Deans, Korn Ferry’s vice president of global human resources.
Organizations also seem a little more willing to spend time training and cultivating the talent they already have. Lucy Bosworth, a Korn Ferry senior client partner specializing in talent and transformational programs, says she’s seen a marked uptick in the willingness of firms spending money to develop middle and upper-middle managers. “These firms want to avoid challenges with leadership succession,” she says.
To be sure, it’s not gangbuster growth for most organizations. The average number of jobs being added each month in 2026 is fairly close to the job additions during 2022-2024, a period not known for being robust. Overall GDP hasn’t grown particularly fast recently, increasing at a 1.6% annualized rate in the first quarter of 2026. Plus, it’s taking more than six months, on average, for an unemployed person to find a new job. A lot of the expansion is still revolving around AI (and to a lesser extent, healthcare). If either of those two industries were to falter, the overall growth rates would take a significant hit.
Still, experts say, it’s better to be expanding than contracting. “Money is flowing right now,” Bosworth says.
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