{"id":20492,"date":"2026-03-17T09:58:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T12:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=20492"},"modified":"2026-04-19T07:41:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T10:41:04","slug":"softswiss-and-pentasia-unveil-2026-igaming-talent-trends-report-to-drive-efficient-hiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/softswiss-and-pentasia-unveil-2026-igaming-talent-trends-report-to-drive-efficient-hiring","title":{"rendered":"SOFTSWISS and Pentasia unveil 2026 iGaming Talent Trends report to drive efficient hiring"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>SOFTSWISS and Pentasia have released the 2026 iGaming Talent Trends Report, providing a neutral analysis of hiring dynamics, compensation trends, and AI integration for industry leaders and employers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Press release.-\u00a0<strong>SOFTSWISS<\/strong>, in partnership with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/softswiss-and-pentasia-present-2026-igaming-talent-trends-report-in-malta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pentasia<\/a>, a leading igaming recruitment consultancy, presents the 2026 iGaming Talent Trends Report, an in-depth industry study analysing the current state of the igaming talent market and its development trajectory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The report provides a structured overview of the igaming workforce landscape in 2026, examining hiring dynamics, talent availability, market shifts over the past year, and strategic recommendations for the year ahead. The 2026 iGaming Talent Trends report is based on combined proprietary data from SOFTSWISS and Pentasia, including\u00a0<strong>survey responses from over 90 B2B and B2C industry leaders<\/strong>, and operational workforce insights across regulated markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As igaming companies transition from rapid expansion to operational maturity, many employers still rely on short-term hiring tactics rather than structured workforce planning. This approach increases\u00a0<strong>exposure to cost volatility and talent gaps.\u00a0<\/strong>The report highlights key developments to watch: starting from\u00a0<strong>a broader growing need for cross-skilling\u00a0<\/strong>within teams to maintain flexibility, to<strong>\u00a0upcoming regulatory changes, such as the EU Pay Transparency Directive<\/strong>, which will make compensation transparency an essential part of employer branding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Natalia Perkowska<\/strong>, deputy chief HR Officer at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/softswiss-launches-live-panel-series-to-facilitate-honest-industry-talks\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/softswiss-launches-live-panel-series-to-facilitate-honest-industry-talks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SOFTSWISS<\/a>, sums up the expectations for the year ahead: \u201cThree things for 2026: be clear \u2013 ambiguity is expensive. Move with intent \u2013 good candidates don\u2019t wait forever. Treat hiring as a partnership, not a transaction. And finally, the best candidates are not convinced by perfection. They\u2019re convinced by honesty, competence, and leadership they can trust.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The report is structured into five analytical sections, each addressing a specific dimension of the talent market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>igaming talent market overview<\/strong>\u00a0compares B2B and B2C hiring dynamics, compensation trends, and mobility patterns\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>7 Key trends that shape the current tech &amp; igaming talent market\u00a0<\/strong>identifies structural developments such as AI integration in workflows, and evolving skill requirements<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Candidate vs employer market<\/strong>\u00a0analyses whether 2026 reflects a power shift towards employers or candidates, and their decision-making drivers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Employer branding in igaming \u2013 More important than ever<\/strong>\u00a0evaluates how brand positioning and transparency influence talent acquisition outcomes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The case studies<\/strong>\u00a0section provides practical frameworks for efficient hiring.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Alastair Cleland<\/strong>, managing director at Pentasia, said: \u201cExperienced candidates choose where they can have a clear impact with strong alignment on compensation, flexibility and growth. Product-led environments appeal to those motivated by shaping roadmaps and solving complex problems. Brand-led teams attract marketers focused on acquisition and retention at pace. In both cases, transparent processes and trust in the employer\u2019s approach influence decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2026 iGaming Talent Trends report is available for download on the SOFTSWISS website.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The discussion of the report\u2019s insights in Malta will be followed by an online event: LinkedIn Live Panel from SOFTSWISS in partnership with Pentasia. Titled\u00a0<strong>Stop Losing Talent: 7 Smart Steps for Hiring in 2026,\u00a0<\/strong>the panel will take place on 20 March at 13:00 CEST as the first session of the publicly available SOFTSWISS LinkedIn Live Panel Series. Registration is now open here: https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/events\/7434963006523998208?utm_source=PR&amp;utm_medium=Media&amp;utm_campaign=TalentT+Launch<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2026 iGaming Talent Trends Report continues the company\u2019s industry-wide analytics approach, following the Sportsbook KPI guide for smarter betting analytics and 2026 iGaming Trends report that covered AI adoption, responsible gambling, betting formats, and regulatory change across global markets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SOFTSWISS and Pentasia have released the 2026 iGaming Talent Trends Report, providing a neutral analysis of hiring dynamics, compensation trends, and AI integration for industry leaders and employers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":20493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":true,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The 2026 iGaming Talent Trends Report, a collaboration between SOFTSWISS and Pentasia, provides an analytical overview of the iGaming workforce, examining hiring dynamics, compensation trends, and the integration of AI. The study highlights the industry's transition from rapid expansion to operational maturity, advocating for structured workforce planning over short-term hiring tactics to mitigate cost volatility and talent gaps. Key insights include the growing need for cross-skilling, the impact of regulatory changes like the EU Pay Transparency Directive, and the critical role of employer branding in talent acquisition.","focusai_entities":"SOFTSWISS, Pentasia, Natalia Perkowska, Alastair Cleland","focusai_location":"Malta, EU","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (0.7), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (1.0), affiliate_publisher (0.7), product_ux (0.9), tech_data (0.9), marketing_crm (0.9), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (1.0), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Talent Strategy Impact","query":"How will the shift from rapid expansion to operational maturity, as identified in the report, necessitate changes in long-term talent acquisition and retention strategies for iGaming operators and suppliers?"},{"label":"Regulatory Compensation Effects","query":"What specific operational and compliance adjustments will iGaming companies need to implement to align with the EU Pay Transparency Directive, and how might this impact their employer branding and talent attraction in regulated markets?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60014,60018],"tags":[2279],"class_list":["post-20492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-central-africa","category-partner-news","tag-softswiss","press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20492"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20496,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20492\/revisions\/20496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}