TALKING TALENT - Recruitment Got Lazy? The Hard Truth About Hiring in 2026 | Akbar Karenga

Is Talent Acquisition facing its biggest challenge yet?Recorded live at IHR Manchester, Nitin Sharma and Sean Kennedy sit down with talent acquisition leader Akbar Karenga for a wide-ranging discussion on the future of hiring, the state of recruitment, skills-based hiring, DE&I, neurodiversity, candidate experience and why the industry may have become too reliant on shortcuts.While everyone else is talking about AI, this conversation focuses on the fundamentals that actually matter:✅ Why recruitment "got lazy" after the post-Covid hiring boom✅ The growing importance of skills-based hiring✅ Why junior talent is disappearing from the market✅ How Talent Acquisition professionals can future-proof their careers✅ Neurodiversity, inclusion and designing better hiring processes✅ Why recruiters aren't going anywhere despite constant predictions of doom✅ The biggest trends shaping hiring over the next 12 monthsAkbar shares lessons from multiple economic downturns, challenges some of the industry's biggest assumptions, and explains why the best recruiters will continue to thrive regardless of technology or market conditions.🎙️ Guest: Akbar Karenga📍 Recorded live at IHR ManchesterSubscribe for weekly conversations with recruitment leaders, founders, talent acquisition professionals and industry experts.🔔 New episodes every Wednesday and Friday#Recruitment #TalentAcquisition #Hiring #HR #Recruiting #DEI #Neurodiversity #FutureOfWork #IHRManchester #RecTalkPodcast #TalentManagement #EmployerBranding #RecruitmentPodcast #HiringTrends #HRTech