Robert Half Archives - Business RadioX ®

Amy Mangan and Stephen Tradd, Robert Half, on 2026 Hiring Trends, AI Impact, Flexibility vs Compensation, and Atlanta Staffing (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 926), with host John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio

2026 Hiring Trends: AI, Flexibility, and Salary Shifts

00:00 /

Amy Mangan and Stephen Tradd, Robert Half, on 2026 Hiring Trends, AI Impact, Flexibility vs Compensation, and Atlanta Staffing (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 926)

On this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray welcomes Amy Mangan, Market Director, and Stephen Tradd, Regional Director, both with Robert Half, to discuss 2026 hiring trends shaping the Atlanta labor market. Amy and Stephen reveal that 38% of U.S. professionals plan to seek new jobs in early 2026, marking the end of the “great freeze” and “job hugging” phenomenon that defined 2025. These 2026 hiring trends are driven by pent-up demand, understaffed teams, and employees burned out from economic uncertainty and hiring freezes.

The conversation addresses the critical balance between flexibility and compensation in 2026 hiring trends. While 60% of professionals are willing to work fully on-site for higher pay, many top candidates continue to turn down significant salary increases when flexibility is not part of the offer. Amy and Stephen explain why return-to-office policies are not one-size-fits-all and how companies that fail to offer hybrid arrangements risk losing their best talent. They also examine AI’s transformative role in 2026 hiring trends, noting that professionals who fail to develop AI literacy will be left behind, while those who embrace these tools become more valuable to employers.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

38% of U.S. professionals plan to look for new jobs in early 2026, with Gen Z (45%), tech professionals (43%), and working parents (41%) leading the trend
Flexibility often trumps salary, as candidates repeatedly turn down offers with 20-25% pay increases when hybrid work options are not available
AI adoption varies by company size, with large organizations building dedicated teams for governance and implementation while small and mid-size businesses leverage existing tools in Microsoft platforms
Specialized skills command premium pay, with AI and machine learning roles seeing 4%+ salary increases and overall professional compensation up 2% year over year

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:20 John Ray introduces the show and guests Amy Mangan and Stephen Tradd from Robert Half
02:20 Introduction to Robert Half’s specialized staffing services across accounting, finance, technology, HR, and legal
03:05 2025 labor market analysis and unusual hiring patterns
03:30 38% of U.S. professionals planning to look for new jobs in early 2026
04:30 The great freeze, job hugging, and why employees stayed put in 2025
06:11 Industries seeing the most hiring activity, including healthcare and nonprofit sectors
06:32 Impact of return-to-office policies and lack of flexibility on employee retention
07:33 Understaffed teams and employee burnout are driving job turnover
08:12 Return-to-office strategies and the challenge of finding one-size-fits-all solutions
09:35 Pent-up demand and digital transformation driving 2026 hiring needs
10:01 Digital transformation and software transitions in finance, accounting, and healthcare
11:01 AI’s impact on hiring practices and required skill sets
12:20 Why professionals need to learn AI tools to remain competitive
13:14 AI adoption differences between large companies and small- to mid-size businesses
15:34 Employers willing to pay premium for AI, cybersecurity, and data analytics expertise
16:18 2026 compensation trends and salary increases by specialty
17:01 Why flexibility matters more than salary for many top candidates
19:35 Perks and benefits beyond flexibility, including commuter benefits and childcare
21:05 Nuance in compensation and flexibility based on company and sector
22:35 Robert Half’s collaborative approach to helping clients understand market conditions
24:08 When business owners should reach out to Robert Half for staffing solutions
26:46 Success stories, including rapid deployment of 25 help desk professionals
28:52 How to connect with Robert Half and access the 2026 Salary Guide

Amy Mangan, Market Director, Robert Half

Amy Mangan is a Market Director with Robert Half, overseeing the contract and permanent placement services for Technology, Marketing and Creative practice groups in Atlanta. With 15 years of dedicated tenure at Robert Half, Amy has cultivated a reputation as a trusted leader in matching top talent with leading organizations. Before joining Robert Half, Amy brought 20 years of experience in technology and marketing staffing combined. Her deep understanding of both fields allows her to connect with clients and candidates alike, providing strategic solutions that drive success. In addition to her professional achievements, Amy is an active member of the American Marketing Association (AMA) Atlanta, where she serves on the Membership Committee, contributing to the growth and engagement of the local marketing community. Outside of work, Amy enjoys spending time with her husband, two sons, and two cats.

Stephen Tradd, Regional Director, Robert Half

Stephen Tradd is a Regional Director with Robert Half, overseeing placement services for contract finance and accounting, administrative and customer support, legal, and management resources in the firm’s Atlanta and Alpharetta offices. With more than a decade of experience at Robert Half, Steve first joined the company in 2009 in Florida and returned in 2023 as Branch Director for the Atlanta Midtown branch, later advancing to his current role. Throughout his career, Steve has earned many professional accolades, including Robert Half’s prestigious Reach for the Stars Award and is a $3 million-dollar milestone achiever, consistently delivering outstanding results. Steve’s competitive mindset, strategic approach, and ability to connect top talent with leading companies have been the driving forces behind his success. Outside of work, Steve enjoys traveling the world and has recently returned from a trip to Zurich, Austria, and Germany. This year alone, he’s visited 5 countries outside of the U.S.

Robert Half

Robert Half is the world’s first and largest specialized talent solutions and business consulting firm, connecting highly skilled job seekers with rewarding opportunities at great companies. Areas of specialization include finance and accounting, human resources, administrative and customer support, legal, technology, marketing, and creative. Robert Half offers contract talent, permanent placement, and executive search services; it is the parent company of Protiviti, a global consulting firm. In the last 12 months, Robert Half has been named one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies, one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, and has also received recognition from Forbes as one of the World’s Best Employers and one of America’s Best Professional Recruiting, Executive Recruiting, and Temporary Staffing Firms.

Website | LinkedIn

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant Bank has humble roots, having started in 1904 as a $100,000 bank located in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown into one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, boasting over $26 billion in assets and more than 280 offices offering banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from the commitment of each banker to invest in the communities they serve, which in turn helps them better understand the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, their banking professionals understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Beyond Computer Solutions supports North Fulton Business Radio

Whether you’re a law firm, medical practice, or manufacturer, there’s one headline you don’t want to make: “Local Business Pays Thousands in Ransom After Cyberattack.” That’s where Beyond Computer Solutions comes in. They help organizations like yours stay out of the news and in business with managed IT and cybersecurity services designed for industries where compliance and reputation matter most.

Whether they serve as your complete IT department or simply support your internal team, they are well-versed in HIPAA, secure document access, written security policies, and other essential aspects that ensure your safety and well-being. Best of all, it starts with a complimentary security assessment.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 900 episodes and having featured over 1,400 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their respective markets, communities, and professions. There is no discrimination based on company size, and there is never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates businesses by sharing positive stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.

John Ray, host of North Fulton Business Radio, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors — **John Ray, host of *North Fulton Business Radio* and Owner, Ray Business Advisors**

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. John and the team at North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, produce the show, which is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

The studio is located at 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

You can find the entire archive of shows by following this link. The show is accessible on all major podcast apps, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

John Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the author of the five-star rated book The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices, praised by readers for its practical insights on raising confidence, value, and prices.

Atlanta Business Radio

Robert Berris with 352, Brandon Fleming with Harvard Debate Council, David Shands with Sleep is 4 Suckers and The Sleepless Society, and Andy Decker with Robert Half

00:00 /

As VP of Design & Innovation at 352, Robert Berris leads the innovation and strategy practice to co-create human-centered solutions, by uncovering problems worth solving.

In addition to building new business strategies, Robert leads the design department and product design practice. He blends his expertise in web development, user experience design, storytelling and product marketing to position 352 as a leading innovation and digital product development agency.

Connect with Robert on LinkedIn and Twitter.

The Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project story was made possible because of the generosity of Ricky Steele with Steele Technology Partners. Learn how you can help tell a story like this one here.

Brandon P. Fleming is the founder and Executive Director of the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project. Fleming is Assistant Coach of Debate at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA and one of the “Master Educators” at the highly-acclaimed Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, GA. The Georgia Center for Nonprofits & Young Nonprofit Professionals Network selected Fleming as a 2016 recipient of the Georgia ’30 Under 30′ award. Fleming was recently inducted into the 2017 class of Outstanding Atlanta and the 2018 class of LEAD Atlanta – Atlanta’s premier young professional’s program for emerging leaders. At Ron Clark Academy he teaches social sciences, trains thousands of educators worldwide, and coached the middle school speech & debate team to consecutive high school championships, including an undefeated record. Fleming went from being a high-risk youth to a college dropout to an influential educator who has used his story to inspire many throughout the world. As freshman undergraduate student at Liberty University, Fleming founded the S.Y. Scholars Program, Inc., a competitive non-profit college preparatory and leadership development institute. Through rigorous training in academics and leadership, the student body, consisting entirely of at-risk teens, increased from a 1.2 to a 3.0 cumulative GPA only 9 weeks after the program’s inception – 90% of them having achieved honor roll for the first time. He instituted a leadership development curriculum that cultivated the students into community organizers, hosting events that galvanized the community in support of education reform in Central Virginia and beyond. Fleming had soon become a community trail blazer, initiating projects that assembled members of the community to raise education awareness. In 2012, Fleming hosted the first annual Harlem Renaissance Festival, which drew over 300 members of the Lynchburg community. This same year, he hosted the Symposium, an education gathering that united political leaders, educators, students, parents, and the community for a forum discussing, “The State of Education in America.” The successful event had soon evolved into The Symposium Tour, in which Fleming and his students traveled to prestigious colleges & universities in an effort to motivate members of the community to undergird the local education system. Institutions involved in this tour included Liberty University, University of Virginia, Duke University, Howard University, Wake Forest University, and many more. In 2013, the News & Advance recognized him as one of Lynchburg’s most significant people. In 2015, Fleming was recruited by famous educator Ron Clark, subject of the TNT film The Ron Clark Story.

Connect with Brandon on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

David Shands is an inspiration to anyone with an idea to create what doesn’t yet exist. From employee to employer David worked in various customer oriented industries, all while building his own apparel business. David coined the phrase “Sleepis4Suckers” starting out with wristbands and a cool story; later evolving into a clothing line, and an established national business coaching program, ‘Sleepless Knights’. With entrepreneurship being his overarching area of expertise, David works to inspire and uplift many with his brands tag line ” If you lose sleep doing what you love, you will eventually live the dream that you only would have dreamt.” Since David quit his job at The Cheesecake Factory in 2012, his successful businesses, compelling story and unique teaching style has taken his speaking platform all across the country. David has the unique ability to teach complicated subjects like entrepreneurship, marketing, leadership and mental toughness in a way that is being grasped and understood by audiences of all ages. David was named one of Urban Shakes Magazine’s favorite Atlanta entrepreneurs and also featured in major mainstream publications; not to mention countless online blogs, podcasts, and radio stations. David has also been traveling alongside his mentor and world renowned motivational speaker, Dr. Eric Thomas. David has been requested to be on Dr. Eric Thomas’ latest cross country tours, “Stay Ready” in 2017 and “School Days with E.T.” for 2018. David’s approach to speaking is a fusion of traditional education and the knowledge of life experiences. David has built a nation wide business coaching program that teaches entrepreneurs all across the country how to turn their ideas into income. Painting pictures with words and using everyday life illustrations, David harbors a gift for speaking and uses that gift to invoke ambition. David is bringing up a new generation of entrepreneurs and continues to have a relatable message for everyone regardless of age.

Connect with David on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Andy Decker is a regional president for recruiting firm Robert Half in Georgia where he oversees operations for the Accountemps, OfficeTeam, Robert Half Finance and Accounting and Robert Half Management Resources divisions. Founded in 1948, Robert Half is the world’s first and largest specialized staffing firm. As regional president, Andy focuses on business development while managing and training the region’s branch teams. Since joining Robert Half in 2006, he has held a variety of roles with increasing responsibility Prior to joining Robert Half, Andy was the executive vice president of a training and development company located in San Francisco, Calif. where he trained thousands of business professionals each year on leadership and team development. In addition, Andy was a part-time lecturer at Indiana University and an instructor with San Jose State University. He is a graduate of James Madison University.

Connect with Andy on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.