TA leaders are being held accountable for hiring outcomes they don’t fully control and the gap is getting wider.

Recruiters own the process, candidate experience, speed, and compliance. Hiring managers own the interviews and final decisions. When things go wrong, bad hires, candidate drop-off, quick exits, TA absorbs the blame while authority and process stay exactly the same.

In this TALK discussion forum, we’ll unpack how unclear ownership has become one of the biggest hidden constraints in hiring today and why it’s getting worse in 2026. Shrinking teams, tighter budgets, and more responsibility shifting to hiring managers are increasing risk, not reducing it.

This conversation isn’t about new tools or recycled best practices. It’s about decision rights, accountability, and what actually has to change if TA is going to be responsible for outcomes without being set up to fail.