CHRO Confidence Holds Near Record High, But Hiring Becomes Sharply Targeted
The News
The Conference Board's Q2 2026 CHRO Confidence Index dipped to 58 from a series high of 59 in Q1, but remains firmly in positive territory. The survey of 111 US chief human resource officers reveals that hiring expectations, while still positive, are becoming markedly more selective.
Fifty-four per cent of CHROs expect to increase hiring over the next six months, down from 59% in Q1. More tellingly, among those planning to hire, 75% said growth is concentrated in specific roles or functions rather than being broad-based. Only 25% described hiring as broad-based across the organisation. Hiring focus is skewed toward frontline and operational roles (65%) and mid-level positions (55%), with just 15% citing senior leadership roles. The report's author, Diana Scott, US Human Capital Center Leader at The Conference Board, noted that 'companies still recognise that their talent is a key competitive advantage, but they're being much more intentional about where they add headcount.'
Talent acquisition challenges persist: 51% of CHROs described finding qualified talent as 'somewhat difficult', and 5% said it was 'very difficult'. Expectations for employee retention and engagement remained steady quarter over quarter, suggesting that organisations are investing as much in keeping existing talent as in sourcing new hires.
Why It Matters
For TA leaders, the Conference Board data confirms what the SHRM Precision Over Scale feature argued earlier this year: the 'low hire, low fire' environment of 2025 has not been a temporary pause but a structural shift. Every req that gets approved must now pass a higher bar of business criticality. That changes how TA teams allocate their resources — fewer but more strategic searches, longer approval cycles, and more scrutiny at the offer stage.
This environment also puts a premium on internal mobility and skills-based deployment. With 75% of hiring concentrated in specific roles, TA leaders who can demonstrate that their teams are filling those roles faster, with higher quality-of-hire, and with better retention will have a stronger case for sustained investment. The question is whether today's TA metrics — time to fill, cost per hire, applicant volume — are the right ones to tell that story.
Taking Action
All action is situated in your corporate context. These are starting points, not prescriptions — choose what fits.
Connect
Who to talk with in your enterprise
Your CFO — share the Conference Board data showing that 75% of hiring is now role-specific, and ask how your TA team's capacity plan aligns with the finance team's growth projections for critical roles rather than broad headcount targets.
Your head of workforce planning — work together to identify which specific roles and functions are driving your organisation's hiring demand, and build a shared view of where TA capacity needs to be concentrated versus where internal mobility or upskilling can fill the gap.
Inspect
What to take a closer look at
Review your last quarter's requisition data: what percentage of hires were for net-new roles versus backfills? How many reqs were opened but never filled? Cross-reference against the Conference Board finding that 75% of hiring is role-specific to benchmark your organisation. Specific tool to look at: your ATS's requisition analytics or your workforce planning dashboard — filter by 'reason for hire' to see the ratio of new roles to backfills.
Reflect
What to think about more deeply
The most interesting question isn't whether hiring volumes will rebound — it's whether the TA function is structured for a world where every hire is strategic by default. If constrained hiring becomes permanent, do you need more recruiters, or do you need a fundamentally different operating model built around precision, not volume?