RIVA Recruitment’s Year in Review

As we close out 2025, we’re taking a moment to reflect on a year that challenged, surprised and energised us in equal measure.  

At RIVA Recruitment, we are deeply embedded in conversations with candidates, clients and industry leaders, which gives us a front-row seat to how the finance landscape is moving forward. From market insights to meaningful content, and community-engagement via our Finance Friends podcast, 2025 has been a year of growth, learning and momentum. 

2025 Employment Market Insights:

• There has been a significant increase in employees asking for pay rises, prompting us to share practical guidance on how professionals can approach these conversations with confidence, clarity and market awareness.
• We have had ongoing discussions with candidates about counter-offers, as more candidates found themselves weighing short-term financial incentives against long-term career progression.
• Large institutions including superannuation funds continue to internalise their capability across all parts of their business, including investments and recruitment. Our article outlines the risks of internalising vs outsourcing to external industry experts.
• Australian unemployment increased from 4.1% to 4.3% during 2025. 
• The demand for funds management and wealth management professionals remains strong and extremely competitive.  
• A noticeable shift in employer sentiment around working from home flexibility, with many organisations becoming more structured and, in some cases, more restrictive in their hybrid policies. These insights continue to shape how we advise candidates and clients, ensuring decisions are grounded in reality, not assumptions.
• The demand for funds management distribution professions remains strong, resulting in salaries increasing over 10% during 2025. The Melbourne market remains hot, and we expect this to continue in 2026.  

Finance Friends Podcast: A Huge Year of Growth and Impact 

Season 3 of Finance Friends was a standout for 2025. What began as a passion project has continued to grow into a platform for real conversations, insight and inspiration across the finance community. 

This year on the podcast: 

• We welcomed an incredible lineup of guests, including legendary sports stars, turned finance professionals, Chris Judd and  Grant Hackett, alongside finance leaders 
• Explored powerful themes around performance, resilience, leadership and career longevity 
• Shared practical learnings that resonated well beyond the finance industry 
• Grew our audience by over 600% across all social platforms in 2025 alone
• Had several podcast clips and videos go viral with over 100,000 views on multiple platforms, expanding our reach well beyond our existing network to over 30 countries.

The response to Season 3 reaffirmed what we believe strongly. People desire honest, human conversations about careers, money and success, and we are proud to create and publish these discussions.