The 30th edition of the Robert Half Confidence Index (ICRH), which interviewed 387 recruitment professionals from companies across Brazil, revealed the main management priorities at the beginning of 2025. The study highlighted that talent retention has become managers’ top concern, closely followed by challenges related to productivity and profitability.
In the previous survey, from the second half of 2024, talent retention ranked third in the priority ranking. Another highlight was talent attraction, which rose from seventh to fourth place among the main challenges. In contrast, topics like well-being and career lost relevance, dropping from fourth to fifth place and from sixth to eighth place, respectively.
“It’s no surprise that retention and attraction gain priority in a heated job market, with only 3% unemployment among qualified professionals. In this full-employment scenario, companies face poaching from other organizations to retain their best talent while competing to attract new professionals. This requires clear strategies from leadership,” comments Fernando Mantovani, General Director of Robert Half for South America.
The top 10 concerns of managers at the beginning of 2025, according to ICRH:
- Retention: not losing good professionals to the market (60%)
- Productivity: fulfilling obligations more efficiently (56%)
- Profitability: generating more value while spending less (54%)
- Attraction: attracting suitable professionals for the company (52%)
- Well-being: promoting mental health and quality of life (42%)
- Compensation: offering competitive salaries and benefits (42%)
- Technology: understanding advancements and using them to your advantage (35%)
- Career: developing and offering growth opportunities (29%)
- Market information: impacts of politics and economics on business (24%)
- Work models: adapting and evolving in the adopted model (21%)
“Managers play a central role in setting priorities and engaging teams. Companies that combine operational efficiency, talent appreciation, and adaptation to technological changes have greater potential to achieve their goals. Promoting mental health, offering competitive salaries, and creating growth opportunities are indispensable initiatives in a market as dynamic as the current one,” concludes Mantovani.
