MedTech Recruitment Trends 2025

We're already a fair chunk of the way through 2025, and the recruitment landscape in MedTech has been fascinating to witness.

With all the goings on, I wanted to make a list of the key trends we've noticed and how this has affected hiring in the first 5 and a bit months of 2025.

Invested Markets

There have been a few specific markets that have experienced a huge influx of extra capital to support growth. AI-powered diagnostics and wearable tech with AI integrations are two spaces that have received significant funding so far this year. And with increased funding comes the increased demand for talent; companies producing this technology are in rapid growth stages and have needed to increase their headcounts quickly to allow for it. Looking for candidates with AI skills can be an extremely competitive endeavour, almost all companies will be on the hunt for talented AI specialists. A strong compensation package is needed to secure the best AI talent in the industry.

Other specialisms that have received large amounts of funding include telemedicine, personalised medicine, and women's health. 

The tariff turmoil

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'll be aware of the recent geo-political situation that has been centred all around tariffs. In a very simplified version of events, it's become far more expensive for companies to ship their products into America and other countries around the world. There's still a level of uncertainty around how this will all turn out, and uncertainty is a catalyst for loss in business confidence.

Some companies that produce and sell products around the world have cut back on their recruitment efforts for the time being due to this situation. When the state of the world economy is in uncertainty, companies that are recruiting are looking for guaranteed success in their hires. Working with sole recruitment partners can help put the best message to market to secure top talent

The NHS budget

Now this is something that will have an almost immediate impact on recruitment in MedTech in the UK. The NHS announced their Spring budget recently which, in short, reaffirmed their plans from 2024; more money going towards schemes and technology to boost efficiency and, overall, reduce wait times.

This increased demand for technology has led to further demand for talent in the MedTech space, particularly salespeople or clinical specialists that are able to communicate a proposition well in an NHS setting. This is a key skill that we've noticed a lot of our UK-based clients are looking for when hiring into their commercial teams.

Employer branding

It's 2025. People want to work for a company that they are proud to be part of. In the world of MedTech where candidates have high moral values, this can be a big difference maker when candidates are making their career decisions. Whether it's a company making a product that's making a real difference, the values of the company being clear and obvious, or even an attractive benefits package, there's so much more that goes into a career decision other than the pay packet.

Employer branding is the key to showcasing your work environment to the market. One of the best ways to get this across is a strong careers page on your website that's easy to navigate and makes your proposition clear. Social media content about your values and benefits, as well as a consistent posting schedule, also helps make your proposition known.

Skills-based hiring

This has been a debate for a few years now, but 2025 has really seen skills-based hiring make waves across the industry. In principle, it's all about focusing on and testing the skills candidates have in an interview process rather than putting heavy weighting towards their education and previous experience.

This has greatly opened up the talent pool available for companies in MedTech as they can find the skills they need from a range of different industries. Moving forward, we expect soft skills to also become a prominent part of the recruitment process. Soft skills are harder to quantify, but we find that treating an interview as an open conversation is a great way to find out about them, their motivations, and other traits that could serve them well in the role.

Rise of the gig economy

It pays to be specialist in our industry. If you're specialised in a specific skillset, you can demand high compensation in return for your time. And as the demand for these specialist skillsets increases, we are starting to see more people opt in to specialisation to capitalise. Specialisation leans heavily towards freelance and short-term contracts as the skills aren't typically needed at a company all year round.

The gig economy is growing in numbers, not just due to specialisation but also with an increased demand for flexible working arrangements. Talent are looking at changing their work patterns to offer flexibility with the rest of their lives. Being a freelance worker allows for that flexibility, which is why it's again seen as an attractive option in the industry.

What other trends have you noticed in MedTech recruitment so far this year? I'd love to hear your thoughts, feel free to reach out to me on hannah.cannon@fmctalent.com