Recruiting benchmarks: what SHRM's numbers mean for your desk

Recruiting benchmarks are reference numbers, like median time-to-fill or cost-per-hire, that show how your hiring compares with other employers.

Hiring managers and clients already judge your search against a number in their heads, even if nobody wrote it down. A sourced benchmark gives you a fair starting point for that talk, so you set a deadline you can defend.

What recruiting benchmarks are and where the survey data comes from

A recruiting benchmark is an outside figure you compare your own hiring results against, such as days to fill a role. One public set for U.S. employers is SHRM's recruiting benchmarking report, built from a survey of in-house recruiting executives.

The method matters more than any single figure. SHRM's 2025 report drew on an online survey of a random sample of active members from January 9 to March 3. In total, 2,371 members responded. It reports median values, which means the middle answer when every response is lined up from low to high.

That makes it a solid guide to what a middle-of-the-pack in-house employer sees. It can't tell you what an agency, a search firm, or an independent recruiter sees, because those groups weren't the ones answering.

Recruiting metrics benchmarks at a glance

The core in-house medians cover speed, cost, recruiter workload, and what share of employers measure quality of hire. Each row names the group that reported it, so you can match the figure to your client.

Source: SHRM benchmarking report

A requisition here means an approved opening a recruiter is working to fill. Before you quote a cost figure, check what sits inside it. SHRM counts agency fees, ads, job boards, referral costs, travel, and relocation. It also adds recruiter pay and benefits plus hiring software, then divides the total by hires.

If a client's cost per hire leaves out recruiter salaries, it will look far lower than the survey figure. In that case, the comparison won't hold. Treat quality of hire with the most care, since the table shows few employers use the metric.

How to read the numbers without overstating them

Read every SHRM figure as an in-house median for a given employer size, not a target for every search. Three habits keep you from stretching the data past what it covers.

• Check who reported it: These are in-house employers filling their own roles. An agency may get the openings a client couldn't fill alone, so its timelines and costs can differ.
• Match the size: Larger employers report longer fills and heavier recruiter loads. Compare a regional credit union with the overall figures and a national hospital system with the extra-large ones.
• Remember it's a median: A median is the middle response. A few slow executive searches can drag your average up while barely moving a median.

The same logic applies to any recruitment benchmarks you find online. Before you repeat a number to a client, ask whose data it's and how many people answered. Then check whether it's a median or an average.

Use benchmarks with hiring managers and clients before you commit

A benchmark works best at intake, as a shared reference point before anyone agrees on a start date. Bring it to the kickoff call, name the source, and say what group it covers.

Say a hospital client wants a charge nurse in place within three weeks. You can note that SHRM's in-house median for nonexecutive roles is about a month and a half. Then ask what makes this search faster or slower, such as shift pattern or pay range.

Midway through, use the same reference to explain where the search stands. If a software engineering role runs long, show which stage of the recruiting funnel is slow. That turns the talk toward fixes instead of blame.

Agency and independent recruiters face a different gap, since the client's in-house number is the bar they expect you to beat. Say plainly that the survey reflects in-house teams filling their own roles. If the client brought you in for roles their team couldn't fill, agree on one or two metrics for this client and define them in writing.

Build a baseline from your own desk

Your best reference is your own data, tracked with the same definitions for two quarters. Outside recruiting benchmarks show where in-house employers land, but your desk has its own mix of roles and clients.

Start by writing down when your time-to-fill clock starts and stops, and keep that rule the same every month. Use SHRM's cost buckets for cost-per-hire so your figure lines up with the survey.

Split the data by role family, such as nursing, sales, warehouse, and engineering. A blended number hides the slow searches. Add a few sourcing metrics, like reply rate on outreach, so you can see where the time goes.

Say your desk fills warehouse supervisor roles faster than the survey median but runs long on finance controllers. That tells you to quote separate timelines at intake for each role family. Over time, your own recruitment analytics become the numbers clients trust, because they come from searches you ran.

Check your numbers before the next intake call

Before your next intake, pull your own medians for that role type and have the matching SHRM figure ready. Lead with your data, then use the outside figure to show the client where their expectations sit.

If you don't have two quarters of data yet, start this week with time-to-fill on every open role. Recruiting benchmarks give you a fair opening line, and your own baseline gives you the rest of the conversation.