by Lisa Wiedemann | Published on October 27th, 2025

A reality check: Employer Branding in tough times

This year, conversations felt particularly honest – between beautiful presentations showcasing campaign work and success stories, many acknowledged the unprecedented times we find ourselves in. The market is tough, with economic uncertainty, mass layoffs and restructures sparing no industries: Techstory’s tracker of the biggest layoffs of the year (so far) spans everything from public sector (U.S. Federal Government: 280,000+), Pharma (Novo Nordisk: 9,000), Tech (Intel: 15,000; Microsoft: 15,000, Meta: 10,000), Logistics (Amazon: 14,000) and Automotive (General Motors: 5,000). Amidst these restructures, Employer Brand leaders are under increasing pressure to provide ROI and do more with less budgets and smaller teams. And as organisations navigate global headwinds, employer branding often ends up fighting for resources alongside core business priorities, at the same time as leaders demand even greater differentiation and visibility in the talent market.

Fostering belief in the face of uncertainty

Yet it’s precisely in these moments that your employer brand needs to work harder and smarter, not scale down or hide. When uncertainty looms, people look for belief: in their leaders, their purpose, and the organisation they give their energy to. That’s where a strong, consistent employer brand proves its worth in facilitating those beliefs. And while Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing play side‑by‑side, their objectives certainly differ: one sustains belief and belonging, the other drives immediate attraction and hiring. Both are vital to create sustainable visibility and engagement with your talent markets: it’s the long‑term strength of the brand that carries people and organisations through hard times, and it’s the futureproofing of your talent attraction pipeline that will allow you to react to changing skill demands.

Keeping AI human

The creativity and dedication showcased on stage at WEBD this year has reaffirmed our industry’s continuous commitment to driving real, tangible impact for talent around the world and it truly was a celebration of the best-in-class success stories. But WEBD also served as a stark reminder that we need to embrace change, in all its facets, or risk getting left behind.

Speaking of change – AI, surprisingly, wasn’t as much of an all-consuming topic as many thought (and perhaps hoped for). While AI was mentioned as part products and platforms, there were certainly no use cases for replacing creative or agency partnerships wholly — at least not yet, and certainly never at the expense of brand differentiation or human connection. Instead, the real lesson from this year’s conference was that AI should be harnessed for what it does best: efficiency, scale, and rapid ideation. Looking ahead, the winning agencies and employer brand teams won’t simply be the most automated — it will be the ones using AI to free up thinking time for strategic and creative innovation. Because if we want employer branding to remain meaningful and memorable, we must keep the human touch at its heart.

Building trust through every interaction

Authentic messaging, local market listening, trust-building, and strategic creativity matter more than ever. This year, conversations about trust dominated panels and presentation. Trust is no longer just a soft value; it’s the bedrock of every productive partnership. It must exist at every level – between leaders and teams, between agencies and clients, and throughout organisations navigating daily uncertainty. With candidates searching for proof (not promises), employer brands have to be “always on,” consistently delivering experiences that match the story told online and off.

The importance of brilliant basics

So, we need to remind ourselves to go back to brilliant basics. We need clarity in our purpose and empathy in our practice. As agencies, we want to be and have to be true partners, not just service providers. We need to embrace AI to accelerate what humans do best but never defer entirely to the algorithm. The way forward means striping back complexity, being courageous with creativity, keeping it simple, and never losing sight of real relationships that make our work possible.

If any of this resonates – the pressures, the passion, the push to keep employer branding meaningful – let’s talk. Stroopwafels and coffee are on me, and I’m looking forward to having honest conversations about how your employer brand and recruitment marketing can work harder and smarter in the coming months (and years).