Recruitment | The most 'difficult-to-hire' roles in 2025, according to hiring managers

Hiring suitable talent for core corporate roles is becoming increasingly difficult, with 73% of hiring leaders saying they’ve lost employees to companies offering greater flexibility.

A new report by global employment expert Remote surveyed over 4,000 business and HR leaders responsible for staff recruitment. It found that over four in ten office-based businesses are struggling to find candidates with the right skills. 98% of respondents report that flexibility is a key factor for candidates when considering a job offer. 

What roles are proving the most challenging to hire? For its Recruiting Report, Remote has collected talent intelligence data for 25 key corporate roles across 34 countries with a strong employment market. The findings show that eight roles are more difficult to hire than any other, each achieving an average ‘difficulty-to-hire score’ of six or higher out of 10. 

Finance managers are the most difficult-to-hire corporate role with a ‘difficulty-to-hire’ score of eight out of 10. Following closely are software engineer (7) and the trending role of AI engineer (also 7), a career path deemed tech’s most in-demand job in 2025 by the London School of Economics.