Recruitment statistics 2026

global ATS market size in 2021, projected to reach $3.71B by 2030 (6.2% CAGR), with large enterprises generating the highest share of revenue.

global ATS market size in 2024, projected to reach $5.7B by 2034 at an 8.3% CAGR.

of organizations use AI to support recruiting efforts — the most common HR application of AI.

of organizations used AI for HR tasks in 2025, up from 26% in 2024.

say writing job descriptions is the most common AI recruiting use case (screening resumes follows at 44%).

of HR professionals whose organization uses AI for recruiting say it saves time or increases efficiency.

of HR professionals whose organization uses AI for recruiting say it helps reduce recruitment, interviewing, and hiring costs.

of HR professionals using AI for recruiting report an improved ability to identify top candidates.

of job seekers say they would reject a job offer from a recruiting process that relies too heavily on AI.

average global time-to-hire for professional-services roles — above the 43-day overall average in the same analysis.

global average time-to-hire reached in Q1 2023, based on analysis of ~250,000 hires.

time-to-hire for specialist roles in energy and defense — the longest-hiring sector in the same global analysis.

median time-to-fill across all U.S. industries (45 days average) in SHRM's benchmarking table (FY2016 data — still the most-cited SHRM figure).

average cost-per-hire in the U.S., per SHRM benchmarking.

median cost-per-hire across all U.S. industries ($4,669 average) in SHRM's benchmarking table (FY2016 data).

median executive cost-per-hire — roughly 3× the cost of a non-executive hire (FY2016 data).

of organizations that struggled to recruit in 2025 cited a low number of applicants — the single most common hiring challenge.

of people who click “Apply” never complete the online job application, a drop-off driven by long, friction-heavy forms.

of organizations facing recruitment difficulty in 2025 reported an increase in candidate “ghosting” — applicants going silent during the process.

are required on average to get through a Fortune 500 online job application — friction that drives candidate drop-off.

of candidates had not heard back from employers one to two months after applying.

of professionals say they would lose interest in a role if the organization did not list a salary range.