Not long ago, the dominant narrative in business — especially in HR and leadership circles — was all about hiring.
How to attract talent in a competitive market.
How to build the best onboarding experience.
How to boost engagement, loyalty, retention.
What benefits to offer. What story to tell. What makes people stay.
We were all in a growth mindset. And it made sense.
The market was hot. Companies were expanding.
Teams were scaling faster than we could print welcome packs.
But that wave has slowed.
And you don’t need a big market report to notice it — you just need to be inside a company right now.
Because today, the conversations sound different.
They're not about how to welcome five new joiners every week.
They’re about how to end cooperation in a respectful, transparent way.
How to prepare teams for restructuring.
How to communicate changes without breaking trust.
How to lead through uncertainty — not just growth.
These topics were once the quiet ones, tucked away in the back of the agenda.
Now? They’re front and center.
It’s no longer about how fast we can scale — it’s about how smart we can adjust.
Even companies that were growing like crazy two years ago are now pausing, recalibrating, trying to make things sustainable again.
And honestly? It’s not all bad.
There’s maturity in these conversations.
They’re tougher, sure — but more real.
Because growth is exciting. But knowing how to slow down with intention? That takes something more.
And when you start hearing the same questions pop up in different rooms, different industries, different countries — you know it's not a trend. It's a shift.
One that’s changing not just what we do — but what we talk about, plan for, and prepare people to face.
So yes, we’ll get back to growth.
But for now, many of us are learning to navigate the in-between.
The messy, uncertain, human part of business.