// Recruitment Leaders
Top Recruitment Leaders in Australia & New Zealand for February 2026 | Atlas – Hoxo Elite 100
12/02/2026
6 MIN
The year is gathering momentum across Australia and New Zealand, and recruiters are already setting the direction for what 2026 will bring. From shifts in hiring demand to evolving client expectations, social platforms have become a key space for agency recruiters to share perspectives, challenge assumptions, and exchange practical ideas drawn from real market experience.
This February edition of the Atlas x Hoxo Elite 100 highlights recruitment leaders across ANZ who are using their platforms to add clarity and value to the conversation. Their content goes beyond commentary, offering insight that helps peers think differently, stay informed, and adapt as the year continues. And if you’re looking to make a greater impact as a recruiter building a social media presence, check out Hoxo and learn what they can do for your personal branding.
Here’s the first Top 100 list of 2026, focusing on recruiters across Australia & NZ:
Looking for the Top 100 in other territories? Make sure to check out our lists for:
- Top Recruitment Leaders in Europe for February 2026
- Top Recruitment Leaders in North America for February 2026
How Recruiters Earn Their Place in the Atlas x Hoxo Elite 100
The Atlas x Hoxo Elite 100 celebrates recruiters who keep showing up and contributing to the conversation month after month. The rankings are designed to reward consistency, relevance, and genuine engagement, rather than short-term spikes in visibility.
A blend of activity and interaction influences each recruiter’s position. We look at the size of your LinkedIn audience, how regularly you post, and how people engage with your content. Taking the time to reply, comment, and stay involved in discussions also plays a role. Previous performance is factored in as well, which helps reflect steady progress over time.
Introducing Leagues to our Top 100 Lists
For 2026, the Elite 100 is organised into four leagues, with 25 recruiters in each. Every league is ranked from 1 to 25, recognising standout contributors within each group, while together forming the full Elite 100 across Australia and New Zealand. This list exists to recognise recruitment leaders whose content consistently adds value to the wider recruitment community.
What ANZ Top Recruiters Are Talking About in February 2026
Ryan Reminded Us What Recruiting Is Really About
Ryan shares a message about an awesome candidate he has known for years who was made redundant while on maternity leave. The point of his message is not to focus on the redundancy itself, but on how recruiting and speaking up in situations like this can genuinely help someone find a better role, one they need, and often much faster.
Unfortunately, situations like this do happen for many different reasons. What really matters is the outcome: the solution and what to do next.
Another important point is that most recruiters operate with their own pricing policies, commissions, and fees. In this case, Ryan chose to prioritise helping the person immediately, reinforcing that recruiting is ultimately about helping people find not only a role that provides financial security and a living wage, but also a role they can truly thrive in. At the same time, it’s about helping clients find their dream candidate accordingly.
Lance Raises an Important Question About Comfort, Growth, and Next Steps
Many candidates start their careers with a dream job in mind, or discover that dream later on. Over time, when the opportunity arises to move from a current role to a dream role, a real dilemma often appears.
In this case, Lance talks about a candidate, more specifically, an engineer, who turned down their dream job because it paid less than their current role. When faced with decisions like this, candidates need to weigh many factors: salary, passion, comfort, growth, and long-term goals.
Sometimes, higher pay and stability win. Other times, discomfort, enthusiasm, and passion take the lead. Every situation is different, and at each stage of life, priorities naturally change. In the end, every candidate chooses what they believe is best for them, or at least what feels right at that moment.
Ilsa Highlights That Sometimes All It Takes Is One Person to Open Your Eyes
With this post, Ilsa shares her own experience to inspire others who may feel they need a small push to start something new, something they have always wanted, like starting their own business. But the message goes beyond that.
Many people study or choose a career path they once felt sure about, only to realise later that it no longer fits them, or that their priorities have changed. Others are afraid to make a change, to leave comfort behind, and to take a risk. It’s to those people that Ilsa is speaking.
She highlights the importance of having a good mentor, someone who can gently influence you, guide you toward a new path, and help you find the confidence to continue on your own. Without that support, it’s easy to remain in a role that doesn’t inspire you.
Kathryn Talks About the Importance of Connection in Recruitment, Beyond Open Roles
When you are a recruiter or work in the recruiting industry, communication and relationship-building with potential candidates are at the top of the success list. Kathryn shares that before ever presenting a role to a candidate, she focuses on having small, genuine conversations, checking in on how they are, what they’re looking for, and what matters to them.
By doing this, you build a strong relationship, so when a role does come up, you’re ready to move quickly, sharing the job description with the right candidate, supporting the client, and making the hire faster while keeping the candidate happy.
When you understand your candidates’ needs before kicking off a new role, you create more opportunities to make successful placements. You already know whether there’s a match or not, which allows you to move forward with clarity, confidence, and speed.
Looking Ahead with Purpose Across ANZ Recruitment
As February wraps up, this edition of the Atlas x Hoxo Elite 100 highlights a clear theme across Australia and New Zealand. The recruiters making an impact are those who stay human, consistent, and thoughtful in how they show up.
Whether it is advocating for candidates, helping people navigate tough career decisions, encouraging others to leap, or building relationships long before a role exists, these leaders are shaping the recruitment conversation in meaningful ways.
And as 2026 continues to unfold, their insights offer a reminder that strong recruitment is built on trust, clarity, and long-term thinking.
Keep following, learning, and contributing, because the most influential voices in recruitment are those who add value long after the post is published.
Creating Space for Better Recruitment
Atlas supports that same approach by removing the administrative work that pulls recruiters away from what matters most. Atlas – the Recruitment Platform helps create space for stronger candidate advocacy, clearer conversations, and more consistent, relationship-led decision-making over time.
Revisit our previous Top 100 ranking list for further perspective, and keep showing up with intention, because influence in recruitment is built through trust, and the 2026 list is shaped long before it’s published.
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