Wellington Hire Wire - Issue One
Celebrating Josh Galuszka's 15 years with our first issue, AI in recruitment, and hiring smarter in a tougher market.
The hiring game has changed. Whatever your industry, the market isn’t what it was 18 months ago, and expectations from employers and candidates have shifted.
Hello! It’s Ailsa and Beccy from Key Skills Recruitment. This is the very first issue of Hire Wire, your industry insider for hiring smarter, staying ahead, and cutting through the BS.
Each month, we’ll bring you:
- Who’s who in the zoo - recruitment insights from industry veterans
- Hiring trends that matter - not just clickbait!
- Compliance updates you need to know before they become a headache
- And practical tips to get you ahead of the game
We’d also love for you to be a part of Hire Wire!
Do you have an industry story or news you’d like to share with all of us? Let us know at wellingtonhirewire@substack.com, and we’ll include it in the next issue.
For our first issue, we’re celebrating Josh Galuszka, who has been with Key Skills for 15 years and 23 in Wellington construction recruitment. He is a walking hiring playbook! Read on for his insights and take on AI, hiring trends, and the power balance shift.
Let’s get into it.
Ailsa & Beccy
Cheers to Josh! Happy 15 years with Key Skills!
We’re cheering the beers to Josh, celebrating 15 years with Key Skills and a whopping 23 years in construction recruitment.
What to say about Josh? Where do we start?
Josh isn’t just one of our recruiters—he’s a walking industry oracle who knows everyone and everything in the construction industry. He has an unmatched eye for finding the right people for the job and placing thousands of skilled tradies quickly to help businesses stay productive and their projects on track.
If there’s anything worth knowing, Josh is the one who knows it. He’s seen many industry shifts and has a knack for building solid relationships with clients and candidates alike.
When Josh says someone is a good fit, you can bank on it.
Josh, your unwavering ability to manoeuvre with the market is admirable, and your loyalty is second to none. We really appreciate you.
A massive thank you, Josh, for your hard work, dedication, and resilience in the face of the toughest challenges. Here’s to many more years!
Hire Wire trends with Josh.
Many of you reading Hire Wire today will know Josh Galuszka. His 15 years with Key Skills and 23 years of experience mean he knows a thing or two, and we asked him to share his thoughts with us.
What’s the most significant shift you’ve seen in hiring trends?
"Health & Safety compliance. Twenty years ago, if a worker had steel-capped boots and a good attitude, they were set. Now, it’s safety qualifications, compliance checklists, and at least $300 worth of PPE before they even step on-site."
Keeping people safe on site is paramount. Regulation and quality matters more than ever to keep people safe. Keeping up with ever-changing compliance is the trick. Key Skills experts can guide you through this.
How has the power balance shifted between employers & candidates?
"Eighteen months ago, employers had to fight for candidates, even those with limited experience. Now, employers have higher expectations and want recruitment done faster and better. I spend way more time filtering hundreds of applications. Some candidates still believe the labour market is as tight as it was in 2022."
The key takeaway is that it feels more like a buyer’s market right now, but expectations must be managed on both sides.
What makes a great hire?
"Attitude. You can train skills, but you can’t train attitude."
Hire Wire Reckons
Top talent moves fast.
The days of slow hiring decisions are over. The best candidates who show up, work hard, and fit seamlessly into a team are gone before you’ve finished reviewing their CV.
We’ve seen it time and time again. If you wait too long, the right candidate becomes someone else’s best hire. With so many people responding to job ads and applying for roles, sifting through so many CVs to find those gems is tougher than ever!
"In this market, the best workers have options," says Josh. "When you find the right fit, don’t overthink it. Lock them in before someone else does.”
“If you’re hiring, trust your recruiter and move quickly. No one likes time wasters, and at Key Skills, we only send you candidates who are the right fit every single time.”
AI in recruitment – overhyped or game changer?
AI is becoming more common in many industries, including recruitment. Some tools promise to speed up the process, but are they as good as they seem? We asked Josh Galuszka, who’s been in construction recruitment for 23 years, for his take.
What AI can (and can’t) do in recruitment
AI speeds things up. Many recruiters now use AI to review job ads, proofread applications, and understand hiring trends.
"I use AI every other day—it’s like having a spell checker on steroids," says Josh. "It’s great for research, reviewing job ads, and proofing long emails. But will it replace recruiters? No chance."
Speed isn’t everything. AI might be useful for sorting applications, but it can’t sense attitude, cultural fit, or build a relationship. The best hires don’t come from a keyword match, they come from someone with experience who knows the client and the work well and can not only spot the right person for the job but know they will be the right fit straight away.
"The best hires aren’t found by a computer scanning a CV - they come from knowing the industry, understanding people, and matching them to the right team," Josh explains.
More candidates use AI to tweak or write their CVs and applications. That means hiring managers need to be sharper than ever to tell the difference between polished wording and real experience.
"Most CVs will have some AI influence, and cutting through that takes an expert human," says Josh.
AI is great as a tool, not a replacement.
At its best, AI is a useful assistant, handling repetitive admin, improving job ad targeting, and streamlining some hiring processes.
"If AI can handle 80% of recruitment admin, I’m all for it," says Josh. "That just means I get to focus on what I enjoy - helping good workers find great jobs."
But at its worst? It can lead to bad hiring decisions, overlooking great candidates who don’t have the perfect buzzwords, or putting too much faith in automated screening instead of real experience. The future of hiring isn’t AI vs. humans. It’s AI assisting humans.
One hiring tip that could save you thousands
When hiring for short-term labour, most managers focus on experience first, but that’s only half the equation.
Instead, ask this one question:
“Tell me about a time when a job didn’t go as planned—what did you do?”
Why?
Their answer will show that they have solid problem-solving skills. It will also indicate whether they can work well under pressure and distinguish clock-watching workers from proactive ones.
Short-term labour isn’t just about filling gaps. It’s about finding people who will add value to your team and get the job done. What started as a need for a fixed time, can become a permanent appointment. We love it when that happens!
What’s next for hiring in 2025
Hiring never stays the same, and 2025 will be no different. What’s coming down the pipeline?
There’s every chance we’ll face more compliance, not less. Staying on top of Health and Safety regulations is critical, and businesses that don’t will struggle to find and keep good workers.
Speed will beat perfection. Hiring managers who act fast on quality candidates will win. The best workers won’t be waiting around in 2025, either.