Key Recruiting and Hiring Statistics (Updated for 2020)
There is a lot of information disseminated throughout the internet with data about recruiting and hiring. Many of the articles written are either far too expansive and unfocused or includes too little information. This article is designed to provide the most relevant statistics, which has been collected from numerous sources, to present an overall view of the employment industry today.
Although this article is updated for 2019, many of the studies conducted by these highly credible sources may have occurred within the last few years but are the most recent.
Hiring Data
- The average job opening attracts 250 resumes (ERE Survey)
- Only four to six applicants will be called in for interview for each job opening (ERE Survey)
- It takes an average of 42 days for a company to fill an open position (SHRM Human Capital Benchmarking Report)
- The average cost-per-hire for companies is $4,129 (SHRM Human Capital Benchmarking Report)
- Recruiters report the majority of job offers are being presented between three to six weeks after an interview (MRINetwork Recruiter & Employer Sentiment Study)
Recruitment Data
- Recruiters spend an average of just six-seconds scanning a resume before deciding to call the candidate in for an interview (LinkedIn)
- More than 60% of employers are offering or considering offering more contract (gig) engagements (MRINetwork Recruiter & Employer Sentiment Study)
- Nearly 95% of recruiters utilize LinkedIn as a major sourcing tool to find and vet candidates ( U.S. News & World Report)
- 98% of Fortune 500 companies utilize an applicant tracking system (Jobscan)
- 63% of recruiters state the number #1 barrier to hire is that there are not enough suitable candidates (MRINetwork Recruiter & Employer Sentiment Study)
- 42% of recruiters list the number #2 barrier to hire is that candidates fail to respond to calls and emails (MRINetwork Recruiter & Employer Sentiment Study)
- Employee referrals are 5x more effective than all other sources of hiring (Jobvite Recruiting Funnel Benchmark Report)
- 45% of recruiter’s state that resumes will get rejected for not including a cover letter and 37% for not sending follow-up letter after an interview (UpToWork)
- Although 62% of job seekers apply externally through job boards/company websites, less than 15% of candidates hired come from job boards/company websites (Society for Human Resource Management)
- Recruiters report that there is an average of three interviewers before an extending an offer (MRINetwork Recruiter Sentiment Study)
Employment Data
- The current unemployment rate (2019) is 3.6%, with rises in construction, retail, professional/business services, manufacturing, finance, and mining (BLS – The Employment Situation)
- There are 116 million full-time wage and salary workers in the U.S. reported in the first quarter of 2019 (BLS Economic News Release)
- The average length of a workweek for private nonfarm payrolls is 34.5 hours (BLS Data)
- The average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls is $27.83 (BLS – The Employment Situation)
- The median weekly earnings reported in the first quarter of 2019 was $905 (BLS – Weekly Earnings)
These key statistics about recruiting and hiring will give you an overall understanding of the job market today. Every statistic presented here is from the most credible sources and has been referenced with a link to locate the original source of the data. Knowing what today’s job market looks like will give you an edge versus the uninformed applicant when job searching.
Maria Gold is a Content Manager/Writer for Empire Resume. She is dedicated to helping educate people with the latest career articles and job search advice. When Maria is not working, she enjoys reading and spending quality time with her family.
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