Predicting Talent Trends in 2026

Friends,

Looking back on 2025, the overall demand for talent, although bumpy, held up better than we expected. Search industry software provider, Thrive, reports that open search assignments grew two percent from 2024 to 2025. Any growth is a good sign but Thrive notes that this growth lagged overall economic growth in Q3 and Q4. This supports what we are hearing: companies are still very reluctant to add costs, either capital or human.

Our Executive Search level business was strong in 2025, fueled largely by PE related C Suite assignments. PE activity jumped as sponsors looked to energize management teams, made bolt-on acquisitions, and focused on operational improvement to drive EBITDA. Our work at this level was heavily skewed towards CEO, COO, and business unit and supply chain leadership. Trump’s tariff war continues to challenge employers with higher levels of volatility and uncertainty.

At the mid-level, our FLIGHT solution remained stable. We suspect that this tracks with higher levels of unemployment and widespread workforce reductions across all industries as tariff uncertainty, a shift in government support for new technologies [EVs in automotive], and AI adoption weigh on employees. This uncertainty has caused middle management to rethink making job changes and relocating to protect their seniority. At the FLIGHT level, we see continued demand for plant, engineering, and supply chain middle management.

We believe at the FLIGHT level, corporate roles will be increasingly challenged by AI at a fast pace. Our advice to this mid-level executive is to get into the office and find ways to add value, learn, and be seen. “If your job can be done from home, it is very likely it can be done by AI.”

Best wishes for a successful 2026. As always, if we can be a sounding board, please give us a call.

Brad & Alex

Heard On The Street - From CES

In recent years, the presence of domestic automotive OEs and large Tier I suppliers was much larger. GM, Ford, and Stellantis were notably absent while the Chinese OEs BYD and Geely were present and making a statement with beautiful EVs directly taking aim at NA and European luxury SUVs.
Another trend: large OEs such as Oshkosh, CAT, and Deere had substantially smaller footprints than in past years. As one attendee explained, the fact that they have any presence at all is largely driven by the need to be part of the technology ecosystem to attract talent and convince the investment community that products are on the leading edge. Even smaller suppliers such as Doosan and Kubota were featuring ADAS enabled farm and construction equipment.
Also missing were the futuristic versions of flying cars and large drones capable of taxiing passengers.
Despite the absence of the Detroit 3 and some major Tier I suppliers, once mainstays of the West Hall, CES remains a gathering place for automotive leadership but the show for automotive is evolving. This year it was less about product [the cars] and more about advanced technology to advance “mobility” and manufacturing through driverless technology and “labor less” production.
In fact, the showstoppers were robotics supplier of humanoid robotics to replace hourly labor. These booths drew large audiences. This was wild stuff >

Next Up:

If you are in the Naples, FL area this year on February 7 please plan to join the Automotive Hall of Fame for its Reveal of the 2026 Inductees. This event is being held in conjunction with Naples’ Cars on 5^th annual celebration of classic and performance vehicles.

Recent Executive Placements:

Scott Borovich joined CSP Innovations, Inc. [formerly Teijin Automotive and Continental Structural Plastics] as Chief Operating Officer. He most recently served as President of Customer Experience and Business Transformation at Woodbridge. Scott began his career with Electronic Data Systems and went on to hold progressively senior sales, program management, and operational leadership roles with Lear, Visteon, Varroc Lighting, and Shiloh Industries.

Corey Childs joined CSP Innovations, Inc. [formerly Teijin Automotive and Continental Structural Plastics] as Vice President of Manufacturing and will report to CSP COO, Scott Borovich. Corey previously served in various multi-site operational leadership roles, most recently with Dana. Prior to that, Corey led the global operational excellence and Americas new model launch teams at Varroc Lighting.

Meredith Glass joined Veritas as Chief Commercial Officer. Meredith previously served as Vice President of Global Sales at Molex. Meredith earned her engineering degree from UM as a GM co-op student and joined GM’s Warren PT operations. In 2000, she joined Schaeffler and progressed from engineering to SVP Global Account Management.

Andre Oliveira joined IPL Schoeller as Vice President of Operations. Andre previously served as Vice President of Global Operations at Selig Group. Andre has a BS ME and MS Production Systems and started his career with Exxon Mobil in Brazil. He then joined Scholle IPN in Brazil and later managed several plants throughout Brazil and Latin and South America before moving to the States with Scholle IPN.

Ed Pooley joined Wanxiang America Corporation as Vice President of Finance and Administration of the Future Wanxiang America Foundation. Ed previously served as CFO of ForteOne Capital. After starting his career in banking with National City Bank [Toledo], he moved to Metamora State Bank as COO. He later served as the founding CFO of St. Joseph Capital Bank, which was sold to Old National.

Tom Groh joined Wanxiang America Corporation as Senior Vice President of Finance, having previously served as a Partner at Altus Capital Partners. Tom started his career in commercial banking with National City [now PNC], advancing from Associate to Senior Vice President. He later joined KPMG’s mid-market advisory group, which led to meeting the team at Altus Capital.

Tom Rizzi joined M&D Distributors as President and CEO. Tom previously served as President and CEO of OTR Engineered Solutions. Tom brings to M&D a wealth of experience in finance and distribution operations from companies such as Gerber Scientific, Barnes Group, and Pettibone, where he served as President of this material and forestry management equipment supplier.

Robin Galvin joined Symbotic Inc. as Director of Operations – Mexico. Robin previously served as Site Director at Nilfisk de Mexico Manufacturing, where he oversaw two plants in Mexico. Robin is Symbotic’s first employee in Mexico, where he is charged with overseeing the development of two major distribution centers being built by Walmart Mexico. Robin is an Industrial Engineer who started his career with TRW Mexico and later moved to Harman Mexico.

Rebecca Wangelin has joined HI-LEX North America, a global Tier 1 supplier of mechanical control cables and window regulators, as Executive Director, Sales. Rebecca brings a 20-year commercial track record spanning sales, program management, and global account leadership. She most recently served as Sales Director for General Motors and Stellantis at Antolin Interiors.

Matthieu Guilbert has joined Federal Signal as Vice President/General Manager, Elgin Sweeper. He previously served as Vice President/General Manager for HYDAC Technology Corporation, a hydraulics supplier, where he led two divisions. Prior to HYDAC, Mattieu held commercial & product roles with Tier I supplier Parker Hannifin.

Kevin Wilson has joined Davis Standard, a Gamut Capital-owned supplier of extrusion and converting technology, as Director, Corporate FP&A. He most recently served as Finance Director at Pregis, a Warburg–backed manufacturer of protective packaging. Earlier in his career, Kevin held progressive FP&A roles at Life Fitness, a KPS Capital holding until its IPO.

Recent FLIGHT Placements:

Jessie Walters joined Sun Chemical as Director of Contract Manufacturing Services in November 2025. Jessie previously served as Global Procurement Director, External Manufacturing for Evonik Corporation, where she centralized procurement for external, toll, and contract manufacturing. Prior, Jessie was with Honeywell in Project Development Engineering and Global Procurement.

Larry Higgins has joined ATC, a leader in remanufacturing drive line systems, as Global Director of Quality. Previously, he served as Director of Quality and CI for Lozier Corporation, a producer of displays for the retail industry, where he led the quality function. Larry started his career with Emhart Automotive and holds a degree in Business Administration.

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