Most companies’ 2027 hiring objectives are being decided on right now. Budgets are getting set this quarter, and the hiring plan attached to that budget will determine whether next year’s open roles will be filled or remain open for a prolonged period of time.
Frequently, a company’s hiring plan is simply last year’s org chart with a few additional objectives. It gets approved and isn’t looked at until months later, by which time the business has moved on. An effective hiring plan may take more work up front, but it remains effective throughout the year.
Start With the Business Plan, Not the Org Chart
Every hiring decision should trace back to something the business is trying to accomplish. Before you count heads, write down what 2027 is supposed to look like. Are you launching a product, entering a new market, adding a shift, or opening a location? Is the goal growth, efficiency, or just steady operations?
Then ask what people each goal requires. A new location needs a manager, but it also needs someone in accounting to handle the added complexity and someone in HR to onboard a new team. Working from goals to roles catches those secondary hires that org-chart planning tends to miss.
Build Your Staffing Forecast in Four Layers
A reliable staffing forecast combines four types of hiring, and most plans only account for the first.
- Growth hiring. These are new roles tied directly to your business goals.
- Replacement hiring. Team members may move on. Multiply your historical turnover rate by your headcount for each department and you’ll have a reasonable estimate of how many backfills to expect. This is usually the largest number in the plan, and it’s the one most often left out.
- Known departures. These include planned retirements, extended leaves, and internal promotions that will open a seat.
- Project and seasonal needs. These cover implementations, audits, peak seasons, and other work with a clear start and end date.
Add the four layers together and you have a forecast grounded in reality, not just ambition.
Decide Which Roles Should Be Permanent
Not every need on the forecast should be a permanent hire. One helpful approach is to separate your core workforce from your flexible workforce.
Core roles carry institutional knowledge, client relationships, and long-term responsibility. Those should be permanent hires, and for specialized or senior positions, professional placement through a recruiter who knows the market is the smartest route.
Flexible roles cover work that rises and falls. Temporary staffing and contract-to-hire arrangements let you meet that demand without committing to headcount you may not need throughout the entire year. A plan that keeps some capacity flexible is much easier to adapt when the year doesn’t unfold as expected.
Treat Time-to-Fill as a Budget Line
An unfilled position still comes at a cost. The work either goes undone or gets shifted to people who are already busy, and that shows up in overtime, missed deadlines, and eventually turnover.
Plan your hiring dates backward from when you need people to be productive. Leadership and highly specialized roles often take a few months to fill, and senior candidates typically need to give notice once they accept. Mid-level professional roles move faster, but they still take weeks rather than days to fill. If a role needs to be productive by April, the search may need to start in January.
Budget for the Full Cost of a Hire
Salary is only one part of what a new employee costs. A realistic plan also includes benefits, employer payroll taxes, equipment and software, recruiting costs, and the ramp-up period before a new hire is fully productive.
It also helps to know where your salary ranges stand. Utah’s labor market remains tighter than the nation’s, with statewide unemployment at 3.5% in August compared with 4.1% nationally. Job growth has cooled to about 1.2% year over year, but experienced professionals are still in short supply in many fields. Salary ranges that aren’t current can cause offers to be declined.
Pressure-Test the Plan With Scenarios
No forecast survives the year unchanged, so build in some flexibility from the start.
Sketch three versions of the plan: a base case, an upside case, and a downside case. For each, decide which roles would be added, delayed, or held. Then attach triggers to those decisions, such as a revenue figure, a contract win, or a backlog threshold, so leaders are not renegotiating the whole plan every time conditions shift.
Revisit It Every Quarter
A hiring plan should be a working document. Review it at least quarterly against actual turnover, actual growth, and current time-to-fill. Release requisitions in stages rather than all in January. Adjust ranges if you’re losing candidates at the offer stage. The companies that hire well year after year are usually the ones that regularly revisit their staffing plans.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a hiring plan?
A hiring plan is a forecast of the roles a company expects to fill over a set period, usually a year. It includes the timing, budget, and approach for each one. It connects business goals to specific staffing decisions.
How do you forecast staffing needs?
Add up four types of hiring: growth roles, expected replacements based on historical turnover, known departures such as retirements, and temporary project or seasonal needs. Then adjust for the time each role takes to fill.
When should companies start planning for next year’s hiring?
Ideally in the third or fourth quarter, while budgets are still being set. That gives you time to start searches for early-year roles before January.
What should a hiring plan include?
At a minimum, it should include each role, its business justification, a target start date, a salary range, the total budgeted cost, and whether the role will be permanent, contract, or temporary.
How can a staffing firm help with workforce planning?
A staffing firm can provide current salary and availability data for your market, realistic time-to-fill estimates, and flexible staffing options that let you adjust headcount as conditions change.
Plan Now, Hire on Schedule
A strong 2027 hiring plan starts with clear business goals, builds a forecast that accounts for turnover, and keeps some capacity flexible. If you’re developing next year’s hiring strategy and want a clear, realistic picture of Utah’s talent market, contact PrincePerelson to start the conversation.