Senior recruitment specialist Robert Kenward, managing director of newly launched Disrupt Search shares his live insights from conversations with event and experiential agency owners, HR professionals, senior leaders and C-suite decision makers across the industry.

Q2 2026 reveals an industry that remains busy and ambitious, but one that’s hesitating before making decisions. Businesses still need people, projects are still moving forward and demand hasn’t disappeared. Instead, confidence has become the biggest factor influencing recruitment, investment and growth.

Below are the standout Q2 2026 trends, plus Robert’s forecasts for the months ahead.

Trend 1: Confidence is the issue – not demand

If there’s one theme that has dominated the last three months, it’s confidence. While headlines continue to paint a gloomy picture of the economy, Kenward says the conversations he’s having tell a very different story. Most agencies remain busy, are delivering strong pipelines of work and fully expect to recruit – they’re simply taking longer to commit.

“Everybody I’m speaking to tells me exactly the same thing,” says Kenward. “They’re busy, they’ve got plenty of work, they know they need people and their teams are stretched. The issue isn’t demand – it’s confidence. Agency leaders are hovering over the button rather than pressing it.”

Rather than cancelling recruitment plans altogether, many organisations are waiting for greater certainty before making long-term decisions. “This isn’t a market that’s stopped,” he adds. “It’s a market that’s paused for breath. Once confidence improves, I think we’ll see plenty of businesses moving very quickly.”

Trend 2: Decisions are being delayed, not cancelled

Closely linked to confidence is the growing length of decision making. Recruitment processes, investment decisions and new projects are all taking longer than they did 12 months ago as more stakeholders become involved before approval is given.

“It used to be that a managing director could simply say, ‘let’s recruit’,” explains Kenward. “Now that same decision might need to go through the CEO, finance, operations and the board before anyone is prepared to sign it off.”

Kenward believes much of this comes down to leaders wanting reassurance before making significant commitments. “Nobody wants to be the person who made the wrong decision,” he says. “The jobs haven’t disappeared; the budgets often haven’t disappeared either. They’re just taking far longer to get over the line.”

The longer businesses wait, however, the greater the pressure placed on those already delivering the work.

Trend 3: Existing teams are carrying the cost of caution

As vacancies remain open for longer, existing employees are increasingly absorbing the additional workload. Kenward says this is becoming one of the biggest leadership challenges facing the industry.

“People always step up because they care,” he says. “They’ll work the extra hours, they’ll cover another role and they’ll do whatever’s needed to help their team. But that goodwill isn’t unlimited.”

He believes employers need to be more proactive in recognising the extra pressure their people are under. “Don’t just ask someone, ‘Are you okay?’ Ask them, ‘No, seriously… how can I help?'” he says. “People need to know they’re being seen.”

Businesses that acknowledge additional effort – whether through recognition, flexibility or simply taking time to check in – are far more likely to retain their best people when recruitment confidence returns.

“The industry talks a lot about culture,” concludes Kenward. “Culture isn’t what you write on your website. It’s how you treat people when times are difficult.”

Trend 4: AI has moved from experimentation to expectation

Artificial intelligence has quickly evolved from an interesting talking point to an everyday business tool. Kenward says the businesses gaining the greatest advantage aren’t using AI to replace people – they’re using it to remove repetitive tasks, giving employees more time to focus on the work that really adds value.

“AI probably saves me at least a day a week,” says Kenward. “That’s not a day where I sit back and relax. It’s a day I can spend talking to clients, interviewing candidates, networking and building relationships. That’s where the value is.”

He believes organisations should now be actively training employees to use AI effectively, rather than viewing it as a threat. “People won’t lose their jobs to AI,” he says. “They’ll lose them to people who know how to use AI better. The companies that invest in helping their people embrace AI now will have a significant competitive advantage over the next few years.”

Trend 5: Experiences are becoming more premium, not bigger

While many organisations continue to manage costs carefully, Kenward is seeing a noticeable shift in how businesses are investing in events and employee engagement. Rather than creating larger events, they’re creating better ones.

“Premium doesn’t necessarily mean expensive,” says Kenward. “It means thoughtful, it means making people feel valued. Better content, better networking, greater personalisation and experiences that people actually remember.”

He believes businesses are increasingly recognising that meaningful experiences play an important role in employee engagement and retention. “If people leave an event thinking, ‘That was brilliant and my company really values me,’ that’s far more powerful than spending money for the sake of it,” he says. “The events that succeed are the ones designed around the audience, not around the budget.”

Trend 6: Flexibility has become a competitive advantage

Office attendance continues to increase across much of the industry, but Kenward believes the conversation has matured. Rather than debating where people work, the best employers are focusing on how work gets done.

“The really good businesses have stopped counting hours and started trusting people,” says Kenward. “If someone needs to leave early for a school play or start later because they’ve got a doctor’s appointment, the first question shouldn’t be ‘Why?’ It should be ‘What do we need to do to support you?'”

He believes genuine flexibility has become a key differentiator in attracting and retaining talent. “People have lives outside work,” he says. “The employers who recognise that without compromising performance are building stronger cultures, happier teams and ultimately better businesses.”

Forecasts for the months ahead

1) The Middle East will bounce back quickly

With travel restrictions easing and confidence beginning to return, Robert expects the Middle East events market to recover rapidly.

“They’ll be desperate to show the world they’re open for business again,” he says. “The region has invested too much to stand still and I think we’ll see organisers, venues and destinations working incredibly hard to attract international events back.”

While this presents significant opportunities, he believes it could also create new recruitment challenges as demand for experienced talent accelerates.

2) Talent shortages will return faster than people expect

Although there appears to be a healthy supply of candidates in the market today, Kenward believes this picture is misleading.

“A lot of experienced people have quietly left the industry over the last few years because they’ve become fed up with the uncertainty,” he explains. “When confidence returns and businesses start hiring properly again, we’ll quickly realise that many of those people aren’t coming back.”

He expects experienced commercial, client services and leadership talent to become increasingly difficult to secure over the next 12 months.

3) The businesses gaining market share will be the brave ones

Kenward believes the organisations that succeed over the next year won’t necessarily be the biggest – they’ll be the ones prepared to make decisions while competitors continue to wait.

“The businesses that lead the market won’t be the ones sitting on the fence,” he says. “They’ll be the ones investing in people, developing new services and making confident decisions.”

It’s a philosophy Kenward has applied to his own business, recently launching Disrupt Search in partnership with Disrupt Talent.

“If I genuinely believe brave businesses create opportunities during uncertain times, then I have to follow my own advice,” he says. “Disrupt Search is about combining specialist recruitment with executive search so we can support clients at every level as confidence returns.”

4) The real impact of mergers and acquisitions is only just beginning

While much of the industry’s merger and acquisition activity made headlines last year, Robert believes the real impact is now beginning to emerge.

“We’re now seeing the people side of those deals,” he says. “Culture changes, restructures, redundancies and people questioning whether the business they joined is still the business they’re working for.”

Businesses that communicate openly and invest in their people during periods of change, he believes, will emerge significantly stronger than those that don’t.

In short

Q2 2026 has been defined less by a lack of opportunity and more by a lack of confidence. Businesses remain busy, demand continues to exist and recruitment hasn’t stopped—but decision-making has slowed, existing teams are carrying greater pressure and leaders are being challenged to support their people more effectively than ever.

“The industry is in a far better place than many people think,” concludes Kenward. “The work is there. The ambition is there. What we’re waiting for is confidence.

“And confidence is contagious. The businesses prepared to make good decisions, invest in their people and move while others hesitate will be the ones everyone else is talking about this time next year.”

For more straight-talking insights from Robert Kenward and Disrupt Search, subscribe to Robert’s Recruitment Report for practical market intelligence, recruitment advice and honest commentary from across the events industry.