The low ranking recruits have definately been changed. They can start with traits now, and overall the selection has been improved. Some stuff has been moved around (Farsight has outdoorsman for example) allowing more flexibility in your main character. I can actually see using each of the recruits now in different specializations.
Finally, there were three new recruits in the pool (Main char cha 8). Torn is a hand to hand specialist with the fast attacks (Kevin got switched to gifted/toughness) and the traps tagged. There is also a kamikazee/fast attack gunner and a sneaky throatslicer. I do not know yet whether these were triggered by the cha or not. I'll be making a 2 cha and 10 cha character next to see what happens.