Insights

Thinking out loud.

Perspectives on talent strategy, hiring practice, and the future of work, from the team at 404020.

We write when we have something worth saying. No content calendars, no keyword stuffing, just honest thinking on the topics that matter to talent leaders and the organisations they serve.

Featured

Strategy·October 2026·6 min read

Why your talent problem isn't a talent problem.

When a business struggles to hire, the instinct is to fix the hiring. Post more jobs. Brief more agencies. Improve the candidate experience. These are reasonable responses to a symptom. They rarely address the cause. In our experience, the majority of persistent talent challenges have their roots somewhere upstream of the recruitment function entirely.

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All articles

Strategy·6 min read

Why your talent problem isn't a talent problem.

Most hiring failures trace back to strategy gaps, not sourcing gaps. Here's how to tell the difference, and what to do about it.

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Leadership·5 min read

The talent leader nobody prepared you to be.

Being promoted into a talent leadership role is not the same as being developed for one. The gap between the two is where most new leaders struggle.

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Operations·7 min read

Offshore talent: what works, and what doesn't.

Offshore recruitment resources can deliver genuine value, but only when the implementation is done properly. Most aren't.

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Technology·5 min read

The ATS is not your problem.

Talent technology gets blamed for a lot of things it didn't cause. Before you replace the system, make sure you understand what the system is actually doing.

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