Across most organisations, the pressure to move to S/4HANA before the 2027 deadline is now very real, despite geo-political and fiscal factors making the decision to invest harder. Demand for experienced SAP professionals remains high, but the gap between what companies need and how they hire is widening.

1. The real shortage isn’t SAP talent, it’s the right SAP talent

There is no universal shortage of SAP professionals. There is a shortage of people who have delivered S/4 programmes end to end, consultants with experience in navigating complex environments with the right functional skills, and profiles that combine SAP with integration, data, or architecture.

Hiring processes that treat all SAP experiences as equal are increasingly ineffective.

2. The best candidates are secured earlier than you think

Hiring is shifting earlier into the lifecycle, often at the business case, design, and architecture stages.

By the time a role formally goes to market, the strongest candidates are often already engaged elsewhere.

Freelancers are beginning to line up their projects months in advance so that they can transition from one contract to the next without unnecesary delays.

3. Speed is now decisive

Top SAP freelancers are pre-booked, frequently re-engaged, and selective about the projects they take on.

In this market, slow hiring processes do not just delay delivery. They reduce your chances of securing the right talent. A 3 stage process, mapped over several weeks, is a seirously bad signal.

4. Preferred Supplier Lists are becoming a bottleneck

Many organisations rely on tightly controlled PSLs to manage supplier relationships. While this brings governance, it often creates unintended issues in SAP hiring.

Access to the market becomes limited to a small group of agencies. Niche profiles are missed. Strong candidates introduced outside the PSL are difficult to engage.

In a market where the best talent is already hard to access, restricting supply channels can significantly reduce hiring success, particular in areas where it's necessary to lean on the expertise of a market specialist.

5. Hybrid skillsets are now the differentiator

The most in-demand profiles sit between disciplines, combining SAP with integration, data, or transformation leadership.

Purely functional or technical roles are easier to fill, but often not what the programme actually needs.

6. Disjointed SAP environments are driving the most demand

Many organisations still operate across multiple systems, instances, and business units.

These environments require integration, harmonisation, and transformation, which is where the highest demand and the hardest to find talent sits.

7. The organisations securing talent are more proactive and structured

The companies that consistently secure strong SAP talent tend to approach hiring differently.

They define requirements clearly upfront and separate must-have skills from nice-to-have criteria. They map out the hiring process in advance, align stakeholders early, and remove unnecessary steps. Most importantly, they move quickly once they identify the right profile.

Rather than reacting to the market, they engage it early and decisively, which gives them access to candidates that others miss.

8. Some organisations are taking the p***

This might sound strong, but there's a trend of a small group of businesses offering less than 1/3 of market rates.

This might save money in the short-term, but high labour turnover, poor work quality and large reputational damage are inevitable consequences of this approach.

Final thought

The challenge in SAP hiring today is not just finding talent. It is accessing it.

Organisations that combine clarity, speed, and flexibility in how they engage the market are consistently outperforming those that rely on rigid processes alone.

The most succesful processes begin with an in-depth qualification call where the process is mapped out and an ideal start date is selected. When CV feedback and interview slots are outlined from the start it improves the candidate experience and the commitment of a recruiter and CV to interview rates drastically improve, leading to quicker and more effective hiring.