Hung Lee

Recruitment is changing faster than most agencies are willing to admit. CV scanning, manual shortlists, and gut-feel interviews don’t scale — and they don’t compete with AI that can read thousands of profiles in seconds, match skills objectively, and remove bias from first-round screening. This isn’t a threat to recruiters. It’s a warning. AI won’t replace recruiters, but recruiters who use AI will replace those who don’t. #RecruitmentTrends #AIInHiring #FutureOfWork #HRTech #TalentAcquisition

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I’m proud to share our new partnership with TLT LLP to launch the “Beyond Boundaries” School-Leaver Diversity Access Programme. 🎉 When we started The Black Apprentice Network (BAN) , the goal was simple: to make access possible for those who felt shut out. This programme is designed for Year 12 students from under-represented backgrounds who are ready to explore a career in law and professional services. Representation matters, but access is where change really begins. By partnering with TLT, we’re helping to open doors earlier, build confidence sooner, and create real pathways for the next generation of diverse talent to thrive. Through this initiative, students will gain: 👉 A tailored pathway into legal and professional roles 👉TLT mentoring, networking and 👉 Support navigating applications, assessment centres, and life in law Applications open on 10 November, and I couldn’t be more excited about the impact this will have on the next generation of future lawyers. A huge thank you to Rebecca, Kerry, Kate, and the entire TLT team for not just talking about diversity, but acting on it. This is what it looks like when intention meets opportunity. We have an introduction session with TLT here: https://lnkd.in/d-uDAhfZ.

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MAJOR UK EMPLOYMENT LAW CHANGES COMING IN 2026 The employment landscape is shifting significantly next year. If you're hiring or managing teams, these changes will fundamentally alter your approach to recruitment. WHAT'S CHANGING FROM DAY ONE OF EMPLOYMENT: 🚨 UNFAIR DISMISSAL PROTECTION - The two-year qualifying period disappears. Employees can bring claims immediately, though a statutory probation period (likely 9 months) will provide some protection. 🤒 STATUTORY SICK PAY - No more waiting periods or earnings thresholds. An employee could call in sick on day one and qualify for SSP. 👶 PARENTAL RIGHTS - Maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave rights apply from the first day of employment. 💔 BEREAVEMENT LEAVE - A new statutory right (expected to be at least one week) for all employees regardless of service length. STILL UNDER CONSULTATION: Restrictions on zero-hours contracts Right to disconnect legislation Enhanced holiday pay for irregular workers WHAT THIS MEANS FOR EMPLOYERS The traditional "let's see how they get on" approach becomes a luxury you can't afford. Your hiring decisions now carry immediate legal weight. KEY CHANGES NEEDED: ✅ More thorough pre-employment screening ✅ Robust probation processes from day one ✅ Early assessment of cultural fit and role suitability ✅ Strong feedback and support structures These reforms aim to create fairer working conditions and should support better retention. However, they'll make early hiring mistakes significantly more costly to resolve. We're already helping clients prepare for these changes. If you'd like to discuss how they might affect your business, feel free to reach out. 📖 READ MORE: For a deeper dive into these changes: https://lnkd.in/eJi9NZV5 💭 What's your take on these changes? Are you already adjusting your hiring approach? #UKEmploymentLaw #Hiring #Recruitment #HR #EmploymentRights #2026Changes #Onboarding #RecruitmentStrategy

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𝗨𝗞 𝗔𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 £𝟭.𝟳𝗯𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝟭 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱. But there is a big talent challenge coming... Recent data from Dealroom.co shows that AI now represents 30% of all UK VC funding (up from 13% a decade ago). With companies like Synthesia (£146m Series D) and ElevenLabs (£184m Series C) leading the charge. The numbers are impressive: - 179 funding rounds for UK AI startups - 68% based in London, but activity spreading nationwide - UK commanding 30% of total European VC funding ($8bn in H1 2025) 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 Here's what I'm seeing from founders and Exec Leadership teams in this space: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 tough Every funded startup is chasing the same pool of machine learning engineers, data scientists, and AI product specialists. 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝘆𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗱 Series A companies are now competing with tech giants on compensation packages. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗮𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 Finding candidates who can bridge technical AI expertise with commercial application remains incredibly challenging. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 The most successful organisations aren't just throwing money at the problem. They're: 1️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝘆𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 - Combining permanent hires with specialist contractors and fractional experts 2️⃣ 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝗽𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 - Training existing engineers in AI rather than competing for scarce talent 3️⃣ 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻 - Tapping into talent pools in Manchester, Edinburgh, and other tech hubs The funding is there. The market opportunity is clear. But without the right talent strategy, even the best-funded AI startup / scaleups will struggle to deliver. Are you an AI founder navigating this talent landscape? What's working for you? 👉 Need help building your AI team? Let's talk - I help founders create talent strategies that help them scale. Alfonso Ferrandez Sarah Turner Angel Academe - increasing female investment Toby Nightingale Simon Spier Dina Bay, Ph.D. David Naylor Lydia Gregory Elad Brindt Shavit Paul Bishop #AIStartups #AIScaleups #TalentStrategy #UKTech #ScaleupHiring

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⚖️ The TA Capacity Planning Guide. Created from interviews with 72 Heads of People & Talent, capturing 600+ data points. A strategic resource for TA and People leaders in tech who need to: - Understand recruiter productivity - Understand capacity calculation - Benchmark against peers - Prioritise where to invest (or defend) capacity What’s inside: - Benchmarks by Company Size Live reqs hires/rec/month sourcing mix tech / AI maturity - Tooling Trends + Automation ROI What's adopted, what’s working, and where time is actually saved - Top Bottlenecks The constraints holding most teams back - Strategic Plays for 2025 AI-native workflows, skills-first hiring, dynamic planning models 🎯 Want the full report ? Comment "CAP REPORT" and I'll share access

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AI in recruitment isn’t going anywhere. On the latest episode of The Decentralized Edge Podcast, with guest Calder Zwerling, Head of Recruiting at OpenSea, we talk about a hard truth: If you’re not radically embracing AI in your workflows and day-to-day, 6–12 months from now you’ll be at a real disadvantage to those who are. The gap is already widening between the people experimenting daily with AI tools vs. those standing still. - Do you agree? - Is AI already changing the way you work? - What’s the one game-changing AI tool you can’t live without? Drop your thoughts below, we’d love to hear from you on this topic. 🎧 Full episode dropping on Monday, Sep 29th, here: https://lnkd.in/ejfAuBBB

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The TRN Podcast: In conversation with Charlie Sell 🎙 This week I sat down with Charlie Sell to talk about the evolving world of recruitment, and what agencies can do to thrive in it. We dug into everything from the rise of AI and recruitment tech, to building genuine trust with clients and candidates, and how to create recurring revenue that keeps businesses strong long-term. Key takeaways from our conversation: ✔️ Why tech is both an opportunity and a distraction. ✔️ Practical strategies for smaller recruitment businesses to scale. ✔️ How to blend innovation with the timeless fundamentals of recruitment. ✔️ The mindset shifts leaders need to stay ahead in a changing market. This episode is all about clarity, focus, and future-proofing your agency. Catch the full episode via the link in the comments below 👇

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***New Episode of ThinkData Podcast just landed*** In this episode, I’m joined by Anita Kirkovska, Head of Growth at Vellum, a platform that helps businesses build and manage AI into production. We covered a lot of ground, including: 🤖How Vellum helps businesses build and manage AI applications in production 🤖Anita’s role in driving growth and go-to-market strategy 🤖The six levels of agentic AI behavior, and why they matter 🤖Key insights from The State of AI 2025 report (25% of companies now run AI in production) 🤖What’s enabling successful AI adoption, and what’s holding others back 🤖Where the AI space is heading, and how Vellum is preparing for it 🔗 in comments

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Over the past few days, we’ve shared an education recruitment agency case study and a client testimonial, but here’s something we’ve learned working closely with UK recruitment businesses at RPO Arena - Empowering Businesses With Skilled Talent: Outsourcing doesn’t fail because of location. It fails because of the lack of structure, communication, and expectations, i.e. clarity. Most agency owners we speak to initially worry about: 1. Compliance understanding 2. Candidate communication quality 3. Time zone alignment 4. Day-to-day management oversight Completely fair concerns. But when support is properly integrated, it stops feeling “offshore” and starts feeling like operational breathing room, especially when demand spikes. Curious what others here on LinkedIn think: What’s the biggest hesitation you still have about scaling support externally?

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The A Positive Scale Up ebook by @APositive is now live. My contribution covers performance benchmarking for recruitment agencies, including what to measure, where to aim, and how to spot the warning signs early. Download the ebook: https://lnkd.in/gKH6zNzR @Greg Savage @Savage Recruitment Academy @Elouise Paul @Three Sixty Digital @Michael Jones@Laura Cole @Hopes Consult @Amy Towers @Risk Collective @Chris South @Roi-AI @Staffing Industry Metrics @Colin Cuthbert @EOS Worldwide @Ryan Halson @Managed @Andrew Crealy @Danny Marlow@Darren Cottrell

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Does track record matter in the USA? There are a lot of differences between the UK and US recruitment markets, how you win business is one of them. For me going over there and speaking to my candidates and their experiences, one of the standout differences was how transactional their client expectations are in the US. In the UK, relationships and reputation often come first. In the US, you have to DELIVER to SELL. I recently spoke with Mark Whitby on The Resilient Recruiter Podcast about how recruiters can successfully adapt to the US market — especially if you're scaling internationally or planning to make your first hire across the pond. 🎧 Listen to the full conversation here: https://lnkd.in/eMvwqY2W #hiring #staffing #recruitment #USAmarket #delivery

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Today we’re introducing Guide's long-awaited integration with Ashby ATS—bringing Aria, Guide’s AI RC agent, to all Ashby customers. The launch of this integration and our partnership with Ashby will enable more TA teams to: ↳ Automate interview scheduling with Aria, Guide’s AI RC agent, including both Copilot and Autopilot modes ↳ Deliver beautiful, branded candidate portals and interview prep to every candidate seamlessly If you’re an Ashby user looking to free up RC bandwidth and improve the candidate experience, the wait is finally over 🔥

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This Week's Private Healthcare Intelligence 🔹 AI healthcare recruitment revolution: TERN Group raises £17.7m Series A to use AI sourcing healthcare talent globally, while neighbourhood health services launch across 43 UK sites with £10m backing. The convergence of AI-powered recruitment and community-based care models creates new demand for digitally-literate clinical professionals. 🔹 Immigration policy reshapes talent landscape: New £25,000 salary thresholds mean entry-level Band 3 roles can no longer sponsor international workers from April 2025. This immigration tightening forces private healthcare to compete more aggressively for domestic talent, driving up wages and creating opportunities for strategic recruitment partners. 🔹 NHS crisis fuels private sector exodus: With 39% of public prioritising GP access and A&E waiting times, private healthcare admissions hit record levels. Northern Ireland alone shows 6,095 active vacancies (13% increase year-on-year), with nursing shortages leading the charge - prime opportunity for private providers who understand cultural transition. 🔹 Martha's Rule expansion signals quality focus: Now available in all 210 acute hospitals after 4,906 calls in first year, showing patients increasingly assertive about care standards. Private healthcare positioned to capitalise on this quality-consciousness trend. The pattern is unmistakable: tighter immigration controls, NHS capacity constraints, and rising patient expectations create the perfect storm driving healthcare professionals toward private practice. Are you seeing this talent migration accelerating in your network? #UKHealthcare #PrivateHealthcare #HealthcareTrends #MedicalRecruitment #TalentMigration #HealthcareRecruitment

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