what drives professional talent in the U.S.?

In 2025, professional talent scarcity is loud and clear. Professional talent in the U.S. thoughtfully positions values they trust deeply above everything else. Employability, autonomy, and well-being are increasingly becoming the central tenets of American talent. Employer benchmarking in the mind of American professional talent is rising by the day.

Consider the case of employability. The ability to stay employable surfaces as one of the top priorities for professional talent in the U.S. This is just a one-off data point. As you peel the onion, talent attraction and retention become increasingly delicate.

On the contrary, this talent perspective presents a promising chance to cement employee trust and augment workplace commitment. A safe foundation for your business growth story awaits you with talent taking center stage.

Here’s a list of leading professional talent priorities that help you significantly upgrade your talent attraction and retention strategies.

1. pay tops the list for professionals in the U.S.

A comprehensive compensation framework holds the top spot for professional talent in the U.S. Salary ranks highest in the minds of 56% of administrative and 47% of finance and engineering talent. However, there’s more beneath the surface.

Job security, an uplifting team vibe and flexible work schedules stay at the forefront of the professional talent priorities in the U.S. Your path forward, as an employer? Promoting a competitive compensation and benefits package, in which employee well-being stands strong. Ensure a supportive workplace ecosystem, where employees think of as their second home. Flexibility is next in line with schedules that give equal priority to employees’ personal priorities.

2. inflation stress grows for professionals in the U.S.

It’s far from simple to thrive in today’s business and career landscape. When economic volatility becomes an additional bundle to deal with, the synergy presents unhinged hurdles. This reflects the reality of the impact rising inflation has on the U.S.’ professional talent.

Escalating living costs are pushing 26% of America’s professionals to seek higher compensation, with about 27% treating work-life balance with a greater emphasis. What does this suggest? A fatal blend of employee priorities to employers across the U.S.

If you fail to address these critical and just-in-time needs of today’s professional workforce, you may risk a significantly higher turnover rate, which will irreversibly shake the foundation of your workplace engagement.

3. American talent won’t settle without career growth.

71% of professional talent in the U.S. prioritizes career progression. Furthermore, talent gravitates towards your brand if such a reskilling ecosystem exists in your organizational strategy. Professional talent in the U.S. strongly believes that employer-led reskilling is more than essential for career growth.

Create clear career paths for all roles and departments. This exercise is no longer a choice, but an unavoidable imperative to draw in top-tier professional talent. Additionally, offer mentorship cohorts to your employees, which offer guidance and support for long-term career progression. Promote this in all your hiring drives. What does this bring to the table?

A standout employer brand that supports employee priorities with a robust in-house reskilling ecosystem and talent that advocates for your business growth objectives.

4. AI is reshaping talent priorities.

AI is disrupting industries at scale. The winds of change are blowing and the professional talent landscape is on the brink of taking a new shape. 26% of professional talent in the U.S. believes that AI will bring a big shift in their careers. Furthermore, 36% of the American professional community is already integrating AI in their workday, comprehensively.

In addition to this, employers across in the U.S. are not shielded from this volatile hiring landscape. As you present yourself with substantial hiring potential in this pool, take a step back and reconsider your preparation toward adopting AI in your workplace and recruitment strategies.

Create a sound training ecosystem encompassing AI and automation as key learning priorities. Communicate this initiative internally and through your recruitment drives. Moreover, educating professional talent on how AI will shape their career progression will also help in structuring a supportive and talent-friendly employer brand.

5. purpose and positivity are your workplace’s sweet spot.

There’s no going back if you strengthen your ‘workplace culture’ muscle. An unshakeable organizational culture is really a gold mine of business growth opportunities. How? When your workplace functions on the foundation of positivity, your overall employee health index smiles back at you and fosters a robust base of commitment across teams.

Furthermore, putting emphasis on purpose in your talent can even shape tomorrow’s brand advocates. Brand advocacy, coming right from the heart of your organization, is no joke. Communicating your growth story through internal newsletters and company townhalls makes your talent feel included.

Solidify employee engagement by rewarding high performers and nurturing an open conversation platform in-house. This approach brings you fruits to reap in the future. While you grow, your employees also grow and thus develop a strong affinity toward your brand, leadership and their teams. Eventually, you build a positive and inclusive organization driven by purpose, inclusion and diversity.

6. flexibility moves from perk to priority.

Hybrid work surfaced as a standout approach to make traditional work environments employee-friendly. This deliberate flexibility shift combines in-office and remote work schedules paced across the week.

Where does this take your hiring strategy? A place where flexibility creates a new normal, so employees don’t have to leave their personal priorities in vain. Workplace flexibility once commanded a front row seat in your benefits package. Today, however, it keeps the crown in your business growth strategy.

Professional talent in the U.S. is more inclined to careers that offer them hybrid work schedules and believe that these improve their productivity, too. This holds true for your workplace scene also. When you can nurture a flexible workplace culture in-house, your recruitment room opens doors for diverse talent in a much cost-effective reality.

Additionally, hybrid work can turn your workplace innovative and champion autonomy across departments. How does this benefit your teams? Flexible work schedules allow employees to split their workweeks between the office and home and welcome a broad range of working styles. Ultimately, by leveraging flexibility through remote and at-office work schedules, your teams become more committed to your growth cause, thus driving org-wide growth remarkably.

let randstad be your talent guide.

Attracting high-caliber professional talent in the U.S. will always remain a challenge. But with Randstad’s expertise in the talent landscape, your recruitment teams are no longer in the dark. Shifting project demands, talent priorities and economic uncertainty may well be a few giant rocks along your way to finding exceptional talent. Randstad’s strategic partnership, however, equips you to navigate today’s complex talent ecosystem with information, precision and accuracy.

Start a conversation with our talent experts and devise a recruitment strategy that sets your employer brand apart.