It's no secret that the product hiring market shifted in 2025. Again.
We’ve long moved out of the hypergrowth era and through a period of cautious hiring and widespread cuts. Now, we’re in a space where companies are willingly hiring again but with far more intention and scrutiny. And while that makes sense on paper, the reality is more complex when you're in the thick of it.
Over the last few months, we've been speaking to clients and internal product recruiters about what they've seen in 2025 so far. Here's what keeps coming up repeatedly and what hiring teams should do differently for your product recruitment for 2026.
- Specialist product knowledge is top right now
Gone (for now, at least) are the days when being a solid generalist was enough to get a Product Managers through the door.
Hiring managers want PMs with real depth, people who've been hands-on in similar domains or business models and can slot in quickly. We're hearing the same thing across B2B SaaS, fintech, and scale-up clients: "We need someone who's done this exact thing before."
And that's fair. Budgets are tight, and headcount is precious. But it does raise the question of how we balance hiring for today's gap with building for tomorrow's team.
We're curious what others are seeing here, but our take is that it's creating a short-term bias toward safe hires, which might cost teams long-term adaptability.
- Growth PMs are the priority hire
Whether it's subscriptions, retention, activation or revenue, growth-focused PMs are in the spotlight.
Teams are under pressure to do more with what they have, and candidates who've owned commercial KPIs or driven measurable impact are climbing to the top of shortlists.
This is especially true in sectors like fintech, regtech, and direct-to-consumer, where revenue loops are clearer and pressure to perform is higher. If you're hiring in these spaces, expect intense competition for the same pool of candidates.
- Everyone wants Senior PMs, but who’s developing the next wave of talent.
Right now, most hiring is happening at the mid-senior level. Senior PMs are experienced enough to deliver impact, but don’t come with VP-level salaries which makes them an obvious choice in a cautious market.
But there’s a clear gap forming: fewer junior PMs are coming through, and those hired have limited opportunities to learn and grow, especially when leadership roles are being deprioritised too.
It’s not a criticism clients are making smart decisions based on immediate needs. But it’s worth asking: If everyone’s hiring mid to senior, and no one’s hiring junior, who’s coaching the next generation of PMs?
It’s a long-term challenge that could leave many teams with capability gaps a year or two from now.
- AI's expected but just not as a job title.
Interestingly a point that keeps coming up is that clients want AI to be a part of the product, not the whole story.
We're not seeing many AI-specific product roles et despite the hype. Instead, there's a general expectation that PMs are AI-aware, able to work with AI tools, understand how models influence roadmaps, and generally factor AI into their thinking.
It's a bit like how "mobile" used to be a specialism and is now just… assumed. AI's heading the same way.
So, if your hiring strategy still includes an "AI Product Manager" as a separate track, it might be worth rethinking whether that's really what your team needs or if someone can develop skills more broadly.
- Where are product candidates falling out of process? Two places.
From what we're hearing, there are two big reasons PMs aren't making it to hire:
- Salary expectations are still misaligned in many cases.
- And even more commonly, lack of true subject matter expertise.
There's a growing demand for candidates who've worked in an industry, not just near it. We've had clients say, "They've been around finance, but they've never owned a regulated product," or "They've worked on subscriptions, but not in a recurring revenue model like ours."
Hiring teams are being strict. CVs are being more rigorously screened. Cultural and domain fit is also under the microscope.
If your process regularly stalls at the final interview, it might be time to consider whether your criteria are too narrow or too risk-averse.
Final thoughts: the value in being specific but not inflexible
Product hiring towards the end of 2025 is all about balance. Hiring teams are under pressure to deliver fast, reduce risk, and justify every headcount. At the same time, the best PMs are being selective, and the best hires often come from those who may not have been an obvious match on paper.
If you want to build a high-impact product function this year, it's worth asking:
- Are your briefs aligned with what the market currently looks like?
- Are you giving candidates clarity and space to show you something unexpected?
- And are you thinking about who will lead your team in 2–3 years, not just who can now?
If you want to talk about what we're seeing in your niche, we're always happy to chat.
At Consortia, we don't pretend to have all the answers. But we've got a pretty good sense of what's happening in product hiring right now and we're always keen to hear more perspectives.
Need to benchmark a role or refresh your product hiring approach?
Drop us a message or contact one of the product team today.
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