Talent insights · October 2026
The in-office expectation that’s winning top talent in a competitive market.
Why it matters again
The talent market has a new big spender. Frontier labs and AI-native startups are going after the same early ICs and first-in-function leaders that growth companies depend on.
For example
OpenAI and Anthropic aren’t just focused on engineering/tech hires. They’re recruiting sales and go-to-market executives from software companies like Snowflake and Datadog and have hired close to 100 Salesforce employees since Q1 2026, mostly in go-to-market roles.
Carta finds that AI-native companies pay more for GTM hires than non-AI-native peers at the same valuation.
This reprices talent everywhere and drastically changes how growth companies compete.
When you can’t always win on pay or match frontier companies, everything else in the offer carries more weight, including what candidates expect to hear about how and where they work.
Here are the three things top candidates want that growth companies can still shape.
A real mandate, and the chance to truly shape the function. Startups and growth companies keep this advantage over larger employers.
Write down the decisions the hire will own in their first 90 days.
Top-tier AI/ML engineers at AI-native startups get ~46% more equity than their peers at non-AI-native startups of the same size, per Carta’s April 2026 analysis.
Matching it may not be possible, but being clear about grant size, terms, and a path to liquidity is. Paired with a real mandate to build and own their function, it may be enough for the right candidate.
Be able to explain size, terms, and liquidity plans in two minutes.
Your process is the first sample of how you work. Candidates notice who replies in a day, who explains the next step, and who goes quiet for a week without saying why. They’re deciding with it.
Among U.S. candidates who interviewed, 96% had at least one complaint, and the most common was being ghosted by the employer (45%), per Greenhouse’s 2026 candidate survey. When silence is this common, a fast, clear process stands out.
Set the timeline on the first call, reply to every candidate within a set timeframe (including the nos), and decide within days of the final round. (Bonus points for getting finalists in front of a founder before the last round.)
Days in office.
There is no single standard for in-person work, and the candidates you’re recruiting have seen all of them, but three days is where the market has settled most often.
According to one recent Flex Index report, the 3-2 split is the most widely adopted hybrid work schedule, with 66% of structured hybrid companies now requiring three days per week. Among the labs, OpenAI’s standard is three days (Monday through Wednesday), while Anthropic’s expectation is closer to one week a month.
Remote startup roles draw 42% more inbound applications, per Ashby. An office requirement narrows who applies/your overall pool in the first place. We cover the breakdown of this below.
Across Hunt Club searches in Q2 and Q3 of 2026, the in-office ask showed up early and cost us time. It rarely cost us the offer.
23of 100
Of every 100 dropouts with a recorded reason, how many left over location
4–5 days in office
2323 of 100 · about 1 in 4
Hybrid3x fewer dropouts
77 of 100 · about 1 in 14
Remote11x fewer dropouts
22 of 100 · about 1 in 50
| Measure | 4–5 days | Hybrid | Remote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roles | 42 | 37 | 43 |
| Offer acceptance | 95% | 90% | 82% |
| Avg. days to fill | 109 | 84 | 86 |
| Location as dropout reason | 23% | 7% | 2% |
Hybrid and remote combined: 85% offer acceptance and 85 days to fill.
18of 100
Of every 100 dropouts with a recorded reason, how many left over location
4–5 days in office
1818 of 100 · about 1 in 6
Hybrid3x fewer dropouts
66 of 100 · about 1 in 17
Remote9x fewer dropouts
22 of 100 · about 1 in 50
| Measure | 4–5 days | Hybrid | Remote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roles | 14 | 12 | 17 |
| Offer acceptance | 100% | 81% | 81% |
| Avg. days to fill | 105 | 85 | 85 |
| Location as dropout reason | 18% | 6% | 2% |
Hybrid and remote roles, those requiring three days or fewer in office, are reported together for growth clients, where hybrid-only data is still limited.
Location and office expectations were behind 563 of the 4,894 recorded candidate dropouts (11.5%, about 1 in 9). Across all clients, location drove 23% of dropouts on 4–5 day mandates, versus 7% on hybrid and 2% on remote. For early-stage and growth clients: 18%, 6%, and 2%, respectively.
4–5 day roles took 109 days to fill, 24 more than hybrid and remote roles (85). For growth clients: 105 days, 34 more than remote (71).
Most location-related dropouts happened at the Responded and Screen stages, long before an offer. Against all roles, hybrid mandates kept most of the offer-stage strength (90% acceptance) while cutting location dropouts to 7% and filling 25 days faster (84 vs. 109). The case for the middle isn’t that candidates prefer it at the offer but that you keep more of the pool getting there.
The takeaway
Do this
Name the expectation in the first conversation, explain why, define the days, and be clear about where there’s flexibility.
Each “no” below is a place a strong candidate may hesitate.
Where we can help
Hunt Club helps high-growth companies position their opportunities to top-tier candidates, from first-in-function hires to senior leaders. If you’re working through how to compete for a role right now, we’re happy to compare notes.
Hunt Club is the executive search partner VC and PE-backed high-growth companies trust to identify and secure the right hires for the job. We've built an integrated search platform and exclusive network to access talent traditional firms can't reach.
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