Why Telecom Companies Struggle to Hire the Right People: A View from Both Sides of the Table

After spending more than a decade in the A2P SMS industry and the last nine months leading HR-HUB4TELCOS, I have had the opportunity to observe telecom recruitment from two very different perspectives.

As a telecom professional, I understood the operational realities, the commercial pressures, and the technical expertise required to succeed.

As a recruitment leader, I now see something equally important: many hiring challenges are not caused by a lack of talent. They are caused by a lack of clarity.

In today's global telecom environment, where companies recruit remotely across continents and compete for the same pool of experienced professionals, defining what you actually need has become just as important as finding the candidate.

Unfortunately, this is where many hiring processes begin to fail.

The Candidate That Doesn't Exist

One of the most common situations we encounter is the search for the "perfect candidate."

Companies often approach recruitment with a detailed wish list:

• 15+ years of experience

• Strong commercial background

• Proven sales results

• Existing industry network

• Leadership experience

• Ability to build strategy

• Hands-on operational knowledge

• Willingness to travel

• Immediate availability

Individually, none of these requirements are unreasonable.

The problem starts when companies expect all of them to exist in a single person while also fitting within an undefined budget and an evolving role description.

In telecom, particularly in A2P SMS and Wholesale Voice, professionals naturally evolve throughout their careers.

The person who spent fifteen years building partnerships, leading teams, defining strategy, and managing multimillion-euro revenues will not necessarily spend every day sending price lists, prospecting accounts, and managing operational tickets.

That is not because they have lost the ability.

It is because their role evolved.

Yet we frequently see senior candidates rejected because they are considered "too strategic" or "not hands-on enough," despite being exactly the profile initially requested.

When the Real Issue Isn't the Candidate

Recently, we worked with companies searching for senior commercial executives.

The brief was clear:

"We want experienced people. Salary is not a problem. We want the best."

We presented multiple candidates.

Each had:

• More than twenty years of telecom experience

• Strong international networks

• Leadership backgrounds

• Documented success in revenue growth

• Proven track records of building business and increasing ROI

On paper, these candidates perfectly matched the original requirements.

Yet they were repeatedly rejected.

The feedback was almost identical every time:

"They have been in management roles recently."
"They are not hands-on enough."
"They are too strategic."

After several rounds of unsuccessful interviews, a different picture emerged.

The issue was not the candidates.

The issue was the compensation attached to candidates of that caliber.

What initially appeared to be a search for executive leadership had quietly become a search for executive experience at a middle-management budget.

The hiring criteria changed during the process, not because the business needs changed, but because the financial reality became uncomfortable.

This happens more often than many companies realize.

The Cost of Unclear Expectations

When expectations shift midway through a search, everyone loses.

The company loses time.

Recruiters lose momentum.

Candidates lose interest.

The market perception of the opportunity weakens.

Most importantly, the role remains unfilled while competitors continue moving forward.

In telecom, where market opportunities can appear and disappear within months, delayed hiring decisions have a direct commercial cost.

The irony is that many organizations spend months searching for a candidate who would have generated far more value than the difference in compensation being debated.

The Telecom Expert Syndrome

There is another challenge I frequently observe.

Telecom is an industry built on expertise.

Many hiring managers have decades of experience and deep knowledge of their markets.

That expertise is valuable.

However, it can sometimes create a dangerous assumption:

"We know exactly what we need."

The reality is that knowing your business and knowing the talent market are two different things.

Recruitment consultants spend every day speaking with candidates, understanding salary expectations, tracking market trends, observing career movements, and analyzing talent availability across regions.

When a recruitment partner advises that a requirement is unrealistic, it is rarely because they want to lower standards.

It is because they understand the current market.

The strongest hiring partnerships happen when companies view recruiters as advisors rather than CV providers.
What Companies Should Do Before Launching a Search

Before opening a role, leadership teams should ask themselves several critical questions:

What problem are we actually trying to solve?

Do you need:

• A strategic leader?

• A hands-on sales hunter?

• A team builder?

• A market opener?

• A relationship manager?

These are often different profiles.

What budget realistically supports this requirement?

The market does not price talent based on job titles.

It prices talent based on experience, results, network, and impact.

Which requirements are mandatory and which are preferred?

Many hiring processes fail because companies treat every requirement as non-negotiable.

Are we hiring for today or for the future?

Some candidates bring immediate operational value.

Others bring long-term strategic growth.

The distinction matters.

The Value of Listening

Recruitment is not simply about finding people.

It is about aligning expectations with reality.

The companies that consistently make successful hires are not necessarily those with the biggest budgets.

They are the companies willing to challenge their assumptions.

They listen to market feedback.

They trust expert advice.

They adapt when evidence suggests a different approach.

Most importantly, they remain open to the possibility that the ideal candidate may not look exactly as originally imagined.

Final Thoughts

The telecom industry is changing faster than ever.

New technologies, evolving business models, increasing competition, and global talent mobility are reshaping how companies build teams.

In this environment, successful hiring starts with clarity.

Before evaluating candidates, organizations must first evaluate themselves.

Understand the problem.

Define the role honestly.

Align expectations with budget.

And trust the expertise of the professionals you engage to help you find the talent.

Because sometimes the reason a position remains open is not that the right candidate does not exist.

It is that the company has not yet decided who they are truly looking for.