Clients often ask our team, “How’s the job market?” We tend to avoid commenting on the national market—the numbers are messy; they get revised up or down, and while that makes for attention-grabbing headlines, they rarely tell organizations what they actually need to know. What people really want to know is how the market will impact them, how hard it will be to find their next employee. And while those national numbers won’t tell you much, we’re seeing three trends among nonprofits and associations that will.

Trend 1: Stronger-Than-Expected Financials and Job Creation

Many of the organizations we talk to are reporting stronger-than-expected financials. Reserves are up, whether from investment returns or conservative budgeting, and the mood has shifted from “hold tight” to “where do we invest?”

We’re hearing from clients who have the budget to hire and want to be deliberate about how they use it. They’re upskilling their teams, redesigning roles and org structure, and adding positions that didn’t exist two years ago—positions focused on diversifying revenue, creating new events and products, transforming digital strategy in the age of AI, and more.

Trend 2: Candidates Are Responding

Last year and even the year before, candidates were frozen in place. There were fewer jobs available and many candidates clung to their roles for security—they knew what they had and weren’t willing to risk a move. A 2025 survey cited 45% of participants “staying in their current roles because switching feels too risky.” We saw this trend show up in our recruitment data: candidates were less responsive to outreach and more concerned with organizational stability, funding and revenue sources, and strategic priorities.

But now we are seeing a noticeable shift. Candidates are seeing more opportunities in the market, assessing their current roles, and becoming more receptive to conversations about what could be next.

Our take on this is that the job market operates in cycles between movement and stagnation, a pattern we’ve observed consistently across decades of executive recruiting. While external factors can bump things up or down, these cycles tend to play out every 4-6 years. Organizations hired a lot in 2021 and 2022, and a surge of employees left their roles for something new. Then things slowed down to a standstill. And now the pendulum is starting to swing back.

Trend 3: An Uptick in Executive Retirements

We talk to dozens of clients and candidates every day, and for executive roles, retirement is an increasingly common topic—whether that’s leaders preparing to retire or organizations planning for succession. This tracks with what researchers have called “Peak 65,” when, in 2025, more Americans reached traditional retirement age than at any point in history. A large share of today’s CEOs and senior executives are part of this generation.

The retirement wave we’ve been hearing about is here, and succession planning is no longer something that can be put off.

Convergence Creates Opportunity

All three of these trends are happening at once. Together, they create not only a good time to hire, but an opportunity to hire strategically. Organizations have the resources to be intentional about building teams for impact. The talent they need is open to new opportunities. And retirements are forcing leadership transitions at a time when many organizations are pivoting to new business models and revenue strategies.

The most important question to ask is “What does your organization need now?”

High-Impact Roles Need Strategy, Not Backfilling

When a senior leader retires or resigns, the instinct is to update the job description, post the role, and find someone who can do what they did, only better. But without stopping to think about what your organization needs right now (or five years out), you risk investing in a structure that may no longer serve your organization.

The pace of change over the past several years has been relentless. Every single CEO Staffing Advisors placed in 2025 was hired to lead major change initiatives. We’ve seen the same trend across senior leadership teams—an education leader reimagining an aging portfolio. A marketing leader who can get their arms around how AI is actually transforming digital engagement. A finance leader rethinking a long-trusted business model to stand out in an increasingly crowded market. The demand for change agents is everywhere.

The nonprofits and associations we talk to are investing in growth in ways that we haven’t seen before. Hiring effectively in this environment takes a deliberate approach to identify what you need, evaluate how the role is designed, and determine whether your organization is prepared to support the kind of leader you want. This holds true whether you are adding a new role, rethinking an existing role, or preparing for the transition of a long-established executive.

Before You Start a Senior Leadership Search, Do This

Take the time to dig into your organization’s most critical business issues and strategic priorities, how you expect the new hire to address those issues and priorities, and what success will look like in the role within their first 1-2 years. Consider the following:

  • What does your organization need now that it didn’t need when you last filled this role? Or, if this is a new role, what gap or opportunity is it designed to address? Consider your competitive landscape, member or stakeholder expectations, and strategic priorities. What has changed over the past several years? What future changes do you anticipate? How will that affect what you expect out of this role?
  • What are the most pressing strategic challenges your organization faces, and how does this role connect to them? If revenue diversification is a priority, you need a leader with experience in innovation, not just execution. If your organization is navigating a significant transformation, you may need someone who can balance immediate needs with long-term growth initiatives. Define the specific type of strategic thinking this role requires before you start evaluating candidates. Read How To Identify Candidates With Advanced Strategic Thinking Skills for suggestions to parse that out.
  • What skills or experiences does your current team already have, and what’s missing? Think in terms of impact and results. For example, consider the relative importance of industry or sector knowledge and stakeholder relationships. Weigh that against a leader’s ability to assess your organization’s competitive position, build new revenue streams, or lead the team through a strategic pivot. Prioritize what matters most.
  • Is your organization ready for the leader you say you want? If you hire someone to drive change but don’t have leadership buy-in, a realistic understanding of what transformation requires, or a genuine tolerance for experimentation and failure, you’re setting them up to struggle. What governance or organizational structure questions need to be addressed to support the kind of leader you need?

Make This Moment Count

Doing this work before you begin the search process can make the difference between hiring a leader who maintains the status quo and one who moves your organization forward. The leaders you hire today will be shaping your organization’s strategy, culture, and competitive position for years to come. With experienced executives retiring, strong candidates open to new opportunities, and the financial resources to invest thoughtfully, you have what you need to make those hires count.

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