What Will Good Hiring Look Like in 2026? New Employ Inc. Report Reveals Key Recruiting Benchmarks

Findings Span the End-to-End Talent Acquisition Journey to Help Organizations of All Sizes Take Action Even as the Market Continues to Evolve

DENVER, Jan. 07, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- To help talent acquisition teams navigate what is already promising to be a year of change and evolution, Employ Inc. announced the launch of its new Hiring Benchmarks Report. Leveraging real hiring data from 6,640 customers across Jobvite, Lever, and JazzHR, the research sets out to answer the questions on every talent leader’s mind: what does great hiring look like, how do we get there, and how do we measure performance?

The resulting resource, titled “Redefining What Good Looks Like,” is designed to help teams benchmark their performance against similar organizations, uncover why they might be falling behind, and understand the changes needed to succeed in 2026. Examining every stage of the hiring process, the report offers guidance by company size – small businesses (0-249 employees), mid-market (250-999 employees), and enterprise (1,000+ employees) -- and across five industries: retail, hospitality, manufacturing, software & technology, and business services.

Employ’s Chief People Officer Stephanie Manzelli shared, "As most talent leaders will attest, hiring rarely feels easy, regardless of market conditions, which makes it hard to define what 'good' recruiting actually looks like. That’s why we created the Hiring Benchmarks Report: to give recruiting teams clear, data-backed, actionable insights into where they’re leading, lagging, and right on track."

Analyzing key metrics from the attract and engage stage through selection and onboarding, the Hiring Benchmarks Report gives readers a comprehensive, data-backed view of where hiring is accelerating, where friction points remain, and how teams can take action to meet the evolving standards of today’s hiring landscape. Select findings include:

Engagement rates declined from 1.2 percent in 2024 to 0.8 percent in 2025, with fewer people clicking through on recruitment marketing emails. That means companies will need to get more creative in how they reach out to candidates.
Time from application to initial screening interview improved from 8.3 days in 2024 to 7.2 days in 2025. This shift shows that recruiting teams know how fierce the competition is for top talent.
Candidate experience scores remain mixed, averaging 2.9 on a scale of 1 to 5, with business services and hospitality ranking at the higher end, while software & technology came in last. No matter the organization's size or industry, there’s always room for improvement.
Efficiency gains are emerging, with time to fill showing a marked decrease from 67.7 days in 2024 to 63.5 days in 2025. However, with time to hire slightly up from 45.7 days in 2024 to 46.2 days in 2025, teams will need to prioritize where and how they can leverage automation to improve timing.
Early retention improved significantly, as first-year turnover fell from 23.7 percent in 2024 to 12.1 percent in 2025, a sign that organizations are getting onboarding right – and should continue to double down in this area in 2026 hiring strategies.

Manzelli added, “While it’s too early to know exactly where 2026 will go, the data shows us where hiring has been and that type of clarity matters. This report helps talent teams prepare for what comes next with confidence–regardless of how the market shifts.”

The 2026 Employ Hiring Benchmarks Report is available now. For organizations looking for a roadmap to smarter, faster hiring, download a copy of “Redefining What Good Looks Like” at https://www.employinc.com/employ-benchmarks-report.

About Employ Inc.

Employ delivers people-first intelligent hiring solutions that empower companies to overcome their greatest hiring challenges. From startups to Fortune 100 organizations, Employ meets companies where they are, offering tailored solutions that support everything from foundational hiring to advanced talent acquisition strategies. Employ is the only organization to offer companies choice in their hiring technology, providing three unique ATS platforms (JazzHR, Lever, and Jobvite) and AI Companions that work alongside you in your hiring journey. Our intelligent hiring platform is trusted by more than 23,000 customers across multiple industries.

For more information, visit www.employinc.com.

Media contact:

Kalyn Stebbins
Kalyn.stebbins@employinc.com
317.440.8425

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