2025 was a year of significant changes, for more reasons than one. From external changes in administration and regulatory requirements and priorities to changes internally in leadership, DirectEmployers endured it all, pivoted to support our Members, and we couldn’t be prouder to be closing another successful year. We would be remiss not to thank our wonderful staff, partners, and industry friends for their unwavering dedication and support, helping us to accomplish all that we did. Our team is truly the best of the best!
Let’s dive into the first part of the year to see what milestones and achievements it brought!
Continued DE Talk Podcast – Season 6
Season six of the DE Talk Podcast continued in the new year with five new amazing episodes highlighting topics including how to build talent pipelines and engage top candidates, advancing EEO through accessibility and belonging, removing barriers to employment for merit-based hiring, aligning compliance and recruitment efforts, and strengthening workforce and employer partnerships through NASWA & the NLx. This season we took advantage of the audio from some of our most highly rated DEAMcon sessions and shared them with a wider audience on the podcast, in addition to our typical format and featured guest episodes. When season six ended in April, planning for season seven was immediately underway!
Quickly Pivoted to Provide Education on Regulatory Changes Affecting DEI
When Executive Order 11246 was rescinded on January 21st, and Executive Order 14173 was issued, we knew our Members would need immediate direction on how to move forward with their compliance efforts. While DirectEmployers’ compliance solutions were not directly affected in this change as VEVRAA and Section 503 requirements still stand firmly in place, the majority of our federal contractor Members had affirmative action plans that were.
We quickly turned to the attorneys from Roffman Horvitz, PLC to host our most highly anticipated webinar ever, just nine days later, on January 29th. With 1,400+ registrants and 940 live attendees, this was our largest webinar to date, detailing the implications of the new Executive Order, as well as what obligations federal contractors continue to have and what would be required, permissible, and forbidden moving forward. We have been grateful for their continued guidance through monthly webinars and resource sharing in DE Connect, as well as additional input from Meredith Gregston from Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and Mickey Silberman of Silberman Law PC. We are honored to work with the best in the industry!
Launched Audiences Solution Enhancement
While expanding job syndication reach to include diversity organizations is not considered unlawful DEI, we recognized a need for our Members to customize the audiences their jobs reach in light of the issuance of Executive Order 14173. In February we launched Audiences, giving Members the ability to tailor their syndication experience to any or all of the following audiences:
- Military/Veterans
- Disability
- State/Federal
- Diversity
- General Recruitment
- International
- Higher Education
Won Bronze in the 2025 Stevie Awards for the Third Year Running
In April, our Member Engagement team headed to the Big Apple to accept a bronze award in the Customer Service Department of the Year category of the 19th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service! Their continued dedication to and support of our Members shows, delivering a customer satisfaction score of 4.69 out of 5, and an engagement score of 78%–over double the national average of 36%! Congratulations to this team–and thank you for hard work!
Hosted DEAMcon25 in Scottsdale
In May, our crew headed to Scottsdale, Arizona to host our Members, partners, and industry friends for DirectEmployers’ Annual Meeting & Conference (DEAMcon25). Held at the beautiful Caesar’s Republic Hotel, our attendees experienced inspiring keynotes and powerful, peer-led sessions, mixed in with local cuisine at every break and an evening rooftop social complete with live entertainment and stunning sunset views. What an amazing week – see recaps of Day One, Day Two, and Day Three here on the DE Blog!
Want in on next year’s fun? Join us in Indianapolis, April 15-17, 2026, as we celebrate our 25th anniversary in our hometown during DEAMcon26!
Extended Partnership with NASWA Through 2037
During DirectEmployers 2025 Annual Meeting & Conference in Scottsdale, our Managing Director Tom Eckhart and Scott Sanders, President and CEO of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), signed a partnership extension to renew our collaborative efforts through 2037. This extension reaffirms our commitments to connecting employers, state workforce agencies, federal partners, and job seekers through the nation’s only nonprofit labor-exchange network, the National Labor Exchange (NLx). Learn more from this press release or from this special episode of the DE Talk Podcast!
Named a Top Workplace of Central Indiana for Fifth Consecutive Year
In June, our crew was thrilled to learn that we had earned a spot on Indianapolis Monthly’s list of Top Workplaces in Central Indiana for the fifth time in a row! This honor is given based on employee feedback provided through an anonymous survey which measures workplace experience and sentiment. Our culture set around belonging, benefits package and openness to collaboration continue to earn us a top spot each year and we couldn’t be prouder!
Welcomed Jeff Gill as New Executive Director
After an extensive search, DirectEmployers Board of Directors announced Jeff Gill as our new Executive Director. Throughout his career, Jeff has worked alongside business leaders to shape and implement strategies that drive measurable results and align seamlessly with broader organizational goals, and his strong background in project and program management further enhances his capacity to drive strategic initiatives forward. Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn and be sure to say hello at DEAMcon26 in Indy!
Attended the 12th Annual NASWA Veterans Conference
In July, a few lucky members of our team attended, exhibited, and spoke at NASWA’s Veterans Conference in Washington, D.C. and they certainly “knocked the socks off” the vet reps who were in attendance, passing out VetCentral-branded stars and stripes socks to their booth visitors (how fun!). Rounding out the experience, Community & State Outreach Manager Michael Witt spoke on a panel about veteran employment tools available through the NLx. By the end of the week, valuable new connections were made and our team was more inspired than ever to get back to work!
Wow, what a great first half of the year! During a stressful time of change in our industry, our team took charge, navigated the waves, and remains at the ready to serve our Members’ needs. Stay tuned for part two where we reflect on the second half of the year and all the fun that was to come, including staff outings, opportunities to give back, and more!