​The Business Perspective

 If you’re responsible for hiring in FMCG right now, you’re in a difficult position.

You’re balancing pressure from multiple directions:

• Cost control

• Business performance

• Market uncertainty

• Team capability.

And somewhere in the middle of that sits hiring.

The challenge is that hiring decisions rarely feel urgent until they suddenly are. What we’re seeing across the market is a clear shift in behaviour. Roles are being approved, but with more scrutiny. Budgets are being challenged mid-process. Decisions are taking longer, or not being made at all.

From the outside, it can look like inconsistency. But internally, it’s often caution. The intention is to reduce risk, but in practice, it often creates a different set of problems.

The first is pressure on your existing team. When a role isn’t filled, the work doesn’t disappear; it gets redistributed. Initially, that can feel manageable, but over time, it compounds:

• High performers take on more

• Focus gets diluted

• Energy drops.

Eventually, that leads to disengagement or even attrition, which creates an even bigger gap than the one you originally paused.

The second issue is a missed commercial opportunity.

FMCG is highly competitive. Whether you’re launching new products, pushing for listings, or expanding into new channels, timing matters. If you don’t have the right people in place at the right time, you lose momentum… and momentum in FMCG is everything.

The third, and often most underestimated issue, is salary misalignment.

This is where we see a lot of friction in the current market. Businesses are basing salary expectations on historical data or internal benchmarks. Candidates are basing theirs on current market conditions and perceived risk. The gap between those two viewpoints is where processes stall:

• Candidates drop out

• Offers get rejected.

• Roles remain open.

And it’s not because the role isn’t attractive. It’s because expectations aren’t aligned. This is exactly why we created our Salary Benchmarking Tool. It’s designed to remove the guesswork. To give you a clear, data-led view of what the market is actually paying across FMCG commercial roles right now.

Salary Benchmarking Tool - Sales:

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Salary Benchmarking Tool - Marketing:

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Because hiring decisions should be grounded in reality, not assumptions.

There’s also a broader shift happening around retention. Many businesses are focusing heavily on keeping the talent they already have. Loyalty schemes, retention bonuses, and internal incentives are becoming more common. On the surface, that’s a positive move, but it’s worth challenging one assumption.

Retention does not equal growth.

Holding onto your team is important. But if that team isn’t evolving, developing, or being supplemented with new capability, the business can stagnate.

We’re also seeing the rise of what many are calling “job hugging”. Candidates staying put, not because they’re fully engaged, but because moving feels risky. That creates a false sense of stability within organisations. People are staying, but not necessarily growing. And that has long-term implications for performance.

The businesses that will navigate this period best are not the ones that stop hiring altogether; they’re the ones that stay intentional, are clear on where talent is critical, realistic about what it costs, and confident enough to act when the right opportunity arises.

At Signature, our approach has always been relationship-led rather than transactional. We don’t just fill roles, we help you make better hiring decisions that support long-term growth. So if you would like a second opinion on your hiring plans, or your brief, get in touch for free.

Because recruitment isn’t just about solving today’s problem. It’s about building tomorrow’s capability.

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