Recruitment statistics: hiring data recruiters can use

Recruitment statistics are sourced figures that show how hiring is going, from how hard roles are to fill to what each hire costs. Good recruiting statistics give you a benchmark to hold your own numbers against when a hiring manager or client asks why a search is slow. They also help you make a case for budget or process changes with data that someone outside your team collected. Every figure below comes from SHRM or research it reported, with the year and the group surveyed for each one.

Hiring difficulty statistics

Hiring got a little easier after 2022, but most organizations still struggle to fill roles. These figures come from SHRM research with human resources (HR) professionals and recruiting executives at U.S. employers.

• Struggling to fill roles: SHRM's 2025 Talent Trends found that 69% of organizations are still struggling to fill roles, matching 2016 levels after a 2022 peak.
• Talent shortages: In 2025, 56% of recruiting executives named talent shortages as a challenge in SHRM's executive research.
• Applicants and competition: SHRM's 2025 trends data shows 51% of organizations get too few applicants, 50% lose talent to competitors, and 41% see rising ghosting.
• Flexible work: Organizations with flexible work report less trouble recruiting than those without, 22% versus 29%, in SHRM's Talent Trends report.

Ghosting is when a candidate stops replying without notice. It can happen at any stage, from screening to offer. Use these figures when a hiring manager or client blames slow progress on your sourcing alone. The flexible work gap gives you a concrete point to raise in the intake meeting, the first call where you scope the role.

If the role is fully on-site, say so early and plan the search timeline with that in mind.

Cost-per-hire statistics

Cost-per-hire, the total spent on recruiting divided by the number of hires, fell for nonexecutive roles and rose sharply for executives.

• Nonexecutive roles: The median cost-per-hire was $1,200 in 2025 in SHRM's 2025 benchmarking report, down 27% since 2017 and down from $1,244 in 2022.
• Executive roles: The same SHRM report puts the 2025 median for executive roles at $10,625, up 113% from 2017 and 21% from 2022.
• Who it covers: SHRM's benchmarking survey drew on 2,371 U.S. recruiting executives at in-house employers.

These are in-house employer costs, so an agency recruiter shouldn't read them as a fee benchmark. They still help when a client weighs your fee against the cost of running the search internally. Work out your own cost per hire with the same formula so the comparison holds up.

Internal hiring statistics

Few nonexecutive roles get filled from inside, though more organizations now use tools built to change that.

• Internal fills and marketplaces: SHRM's 2025 data shows only 7% of nonexecutive roles filled internally and 35% of organizations using a talent marketplace, up from 25% in 2024.

An internal talent marketplace is a platform that matches current employees to open roles, projects, or short assignments inside the company. For in-house recruiters, a low internal fill rate means outside sourcing still carries most of the hiring load. For agency recruiters, ask each client whether they run a marketplace, since internal candidates can compete with your shortlist.

Candidate experience statistics

A large share of candidates still hear nothing for weeks after they apply, and that silence hasn't improved.

• No response: In Talent Board research reported by SHRM Online in April 2024, 36% of U.S. candidates hadn't heard back one to two months after applying.
• Trend: The same research found that this share was unchanged from 2022.

Silence can cost you a candidate you'll want for the next role. That's true whether you hire nurses, warehouse leads, or software engineers. Set a reply deadline for each stage and send a short, polite no when a candidate is out. That habit keeps your talent pool warm and protects the employer brand your hiring manager or client cares about.

AI in recruiting statistics

Recruiting leads every other HR function in its use of artificial intelligence (AI).

• AI adoption: SHRM's AI research, reported in April 2026, found that 27% of organizations apply AI in talent acquisition.
• Lead over other functions: That share is higher than for any other HR function in the 2026 SHRM study.
• Who it covers: SHRM's AI survey included 1,908 HR professionals, mostly at in-house employers.

This figure covers in-house HR teams. It says little about how agencies use AI in their own searches. Before you assume a client screens applicants with AI, ask which tools touch their hiring process. The answer can change how you write a candidate's resume summary and how you prepare them for screening.

Sourcing statistics

Sourcing statistics track where hires come from, and referrals lead the source-of-hire data on this list.

Employee referral statistics

Referrals have led as a source of hire, but the figures here are several years old.

• Referral share of hires: SHRM Online reported in 2017 that employee referrals delivered more than 30% of all hires in 2016.
• Internal hires: In that same 2016 data, referrals made up 45% of internal hires.

If you run or advise on an employee referral program, track your own referral share before you quote this one.

How to use recruitment statistics to find your gap

Compare each benchmark with your own number for the same kind of role, then fix the largest gap first.

• Match the group: Check who was surveyed and when before you quote a figure, since an in-house median won't match agency costs.
• Pull your number: Gather your own time to fill, cost-per-hire, and candidate response times for the same period.
• Pick one gap: Choose the metric furthest from its benchmark, and change one thing in that stage of your process.
• Cite it: When you share recruitment statistics with a hiring manager or client, name the source and year in the same line.

Say one client's roles stall at the shortlist stage while candidates keep dropping out. The hiring difficulty and ghosting figures above show the market is part of the problem. Your fix might be faster outreach and faster replies. Broader recruiting benchmarks help you spot which stage of your funnel sits furthest from the norm.

Start with one number this week

Pick one of these recruitment statistics, pull your matching figure, and bring both to your next hiring manager or client meeting. A single sourced benchmark next to your own data makes a stronger case than a long list of numbers. Revisit the comparison when the source publishes its next edition. Then update the slide or note you share.