Hiring in 2026: Candidate Scarcity, AI and the Search for Quality Talent

More than half of UK recruiters say they can't find enough qualified candidates. At the same time, application volumes are increasing, and candidates have more tools than ever to help them apply for roles.

So, is there really a shortage of candidates? Or has identifying the right talent become the bigger challenge?

In this first blog of our two-part Hiring in 2026 series, inspired by our webinar discussions with Hubert and the findings from Eploy's 2026 UK Candidate Attraction Report, we explore two trends that are reshaping candidate attraction and screening: perceived candidate scarcity and the growing influence of AI on job applications.

Together, these trends raise important questions about how recruiters identify quality candidates in an increasingly competitive and technology-enabled hiring landscape.

Candidate scarcity might not tell the whole story

For the third year running, more than half of the recruiters surveyed for Eploy's Candidate Attraction Report have reported struggling to find qualified candidates. In the latest report, 52% cited scarcity of qualified candidates as their number one sourcing challenge.

Of course, genuine skills shortages exist, and some roles, locations and requirements make recruitment particularly challenging. Yet, an important question remains: are there always too few candidates, or are the right candidates becoming increasingly difficult to identify?

As application volumes increase, recruiters can find themselves faced with hundreds of applications and limited time to distinguish between them. That can lead to understandable short-term responses, from closing adverts early and capping applications to introducing additional screening stages.

The problem is that reducing the number of candidates doesn't necessarily mean identifying the best ones.

One theme emerged repeatedly throughout the series: recruitment may be moving from a volume problem to a differentiation problem.

Rather than asking how to attract more candidates, recruitment teams increasingly need to consider whether their processes are helping them recognise the right skills, behaviours and potential within the candidates they already have.

AI is changing how candidates stand out

Candidates using AI to apply for jobs was a new addition to this year's UK Candidate Attraction Report, yet it immediately became a top-three sourcing challenge, cited by almost a third of recruiters surveyed. But is using AI to improve an application fundamentally new?

Candidates have long asked friends to review their CV, worked with career coaches or used professional CV-writing services. Generative AI has simply made that kind of assistance quicker, easier and considerably more accessible.

Using AI isn't necessarily the challenge in itself. But when candidates applying for the same role have access to similar tools for creating polished, tailored applications, demonstrating what makes them different can become more difficult. And for recruiters, distinguishing between candidates based on an application alone can become harder too.

The question, therefore, may not be "How do we stop candidates using AI?" but instead "How do we build a fuller picture of someone's suitability for the role?"

Throughout the series, Eploy and Hubert challenged an over-reliance on the CV as the primary screening mechanism. A CV remains a valuable source of information about someone's experience, but it doesn't necessarily provide the complete picture of how successfully they could perform in a future role.

The opportunity isn't to move away from CVs, but to consider them alongside other relevant information, from skills and behaviours to motivations and assessment outcomes. For candidates, that means demonstrating their individual strengths and capabilities. For recruiters, it means ensuring screening evolves alongside changing candidate behaviour. 

Trying to ban AI is unlikely to address the underlying challenge. Instead, recruiters can consider how their selection processes and recruitment technology work together to identify, manage and nurture the right candidates, while giving people opportunities to demonstrate what they can bring to the role.

What can recruiters take away?

While candidate scarcity remains a genuine concern for many organisations, the conversations throughout the Hiring in 2026 series suggest the challenge may not always be a lack of candidates.

As application volumes rise and AI-assisted applications become more common, distinguishing between candidates is becoming increasingly difficult. The focus, therefore, may need to shift from attracting more applications to identifying the signals that genuinely indicate suitability for a role.

In Part 2 of this series, we'll explore how recruitment teams can respond, from making better use of existing talent pools and ATS data to measuring which sourcing activities actually contribute to quality hires.