I recently listened to Balazs Paroczay’s talk, The End of Sourcing, and couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about the heyday of sourcing. It’s always been a vibrant, close-knit community—always eager to lend a helping hand, navigate uncharted paths, debate with LinkedIn’s development team, or uncover a Google operator that even Google wasn’t aware of.
But is sourcing now destined to become a relic of the past, like knocker-ups, lamp lighters, or telegraph operators 🥺?
The Forces Reshaping Sourcing
Balazs lays out compelling reasons why sourcing, as we knew it, is changing—and the impact extends across the entire talent acquisition landscape.
1. Economic Factors
In an employer-driven market, sourcing isn’t as essential. Economic downturns lead to an influx of active job seekers, reducing the need for proactive talent hunting.
2. LinkedIn as a one-stop solution
LinkedIn is solidifying its position as the world’s leading aggregator of professional profiles. As of June 2024, it boasted over 1 billion members across 200+ countries and territories. Certainly, this centralized database minimizes the need for manual sourcing across multiple platforms.
3. Decline in Public Sourcing Training
Demand for sourcing training has plummeted since 2023, according to Balazs and other industry experts. Even industry pioneers like Irina Shamayeva, a titan in sourcing education, have exited the field—marking a potential long-term shift in the industry’s landscape.
4. Evolving Social Media Behavior
Sourcing has always relied on digital footprints—social networks, online presence, and public mentions. However, younger generations are more privacy-conscious, making them less visible on professional networks. Traditional sourcing methods struggle to adapt to this migration toward private digital spaces.
5. Decline in Hardcore Sourcing Content
There’s been a noticeable shift toward personal and engagement-driven content over technical sourcing techniques. Deeply technical sourcing content can be dry and complex (( ＾◡＾) NO).
6. The Rise of “Safe” Sourcing Methods
With increasing privacy regulations, companies are playing it safe—relying more on LinkedIn, job boards, and internal databases.
➤ I’d recommend going to the source for more context: The End of Sourcing
The Future of Sourcing (POW): Evolution, Not Extinction
That being said, I still believe that sourcing will transform and adapt. Here’s what I see evolving:
What Will Endure and Thrive:
- Niche Hiring & Executive Search: These areas will remain largely untouched. However, success will require more than just understanding industry jargon (ChatGPT can handle that). The real value will come from deep industry knowledge—understanding challenges, career paths, and insider nuances.
- Talent Intelligence: The ability to map both internal and external talent pools will grow in importance. Companies will need insights on emerging talent hubs, market availability, and five-year forecasts—questions only rigorous talent intelligence research can answer.
Challenges & Opportunities:
- Genuine Industry Networks Will Be Priceless – Knowing people in the industry—not just identifying them through search or having them in a vast LinkedIn network—will be crucial, especially for niche and executive sourcing.
- Human Attention as a Premium Commodity – AI may handle basic interactions, making genuine human engagement a new currency in recruiting. “Hello Offline World!🤗” from 2025 onward.
- Legally Compliant Outreach – Companies will need innovative ways to connect with individuals who are not on LinkedIn, are unresponsive, or have opted out of messaging options.
- Skill-Based Sourcing Beyond LinkedIn Keywords – The ability to identify comparable experiences and transferable skills will be critical. Sourcers/Recruiters will need to go beyond keyword or title searches and assess career trajectories to infer skills and expertise.
- Navigating Shallow Profiles – Not everyone meticulously curates their digital presence. Understanding how to read between the lines and work with hypotheses will be a valuable skill.
- AI-Enhanced Sourcing – Expect better AI-powered matching, iterative search improvements, and voice-to-text search advancements (maybe). Mastering the art of prompting and maintaining a dynamic search dialogue will become essential.
The Bottom Line
Nothing stays the same, and neither does Sourcing.
I remain hopeful for the next wave of cutting-edge technical strategies and methodologies—enhanced by personal branding and the power of genuine human connection.
