iHire has published its 2024 State of Online Recruiting Report, offering an inside look into the hiring and job search trends shaping acquisition including AI adoption, talent shortages, job board usage, and more. Sharing the results of a survey of 1,637 job seekers and 586 employers across the U.S. and from 57 industries, key data points include the following.
- AI usage in recruitment has increased threefold year-over-year. In fact, 14.7% of employers say they are currently using AI in their recruitment efforts, up from 4.9% who said the same in 2023. Job seekers have also amplified their AI adoption: in 2024, 17.3% of candidates say they have used AI tools in the past year to write their resume or cover letter, up from 2.8% who said the same in 2023.
- Talent shortages persist despite a more stable labor market and steady hiring needs. More than half (63.3%) of employers cite receiving too many unqualified applicants as one of their biggest recruiting challenges; 39.1% say the same about receiving too few applicants. Additionally, 63.1% of companies expect a talent shortage or lack of qualified candidates to impact their ability to hire in the next year. More than half (59.9%) of organizations increased hiring in 2024; only 15.9% of employers anticipate budget cuts and 4.6% expect layoffs in the next 12 months.
- Job seekers are more concerned than employers with internal factors, such as the U.S. economy and election, impacting the employment landscape. Nearly half (45.3%) of candidates believe economic uncertainty will impact their job search or career growth in the coming year, compared to 34% of employers who say the economy will impact their ability to hire. Moreover, 17.1% of candidates and 8.7% of employers are concerned about political discourse in the workplace due to the presidential election.
- Job boards remain relevant as they evolve to meet employers’ and job seekers’ needs. More than two-thirds (68.1%) of companies say they use job boards for all or most of their hiring, and 34.3% expect their use to increase in the coming year. Further, 67% of candidates applied through a job board in the past year and 69.7% of job seekers always visit a hiring company’s website before applying, suggesting job boards are critical for initially attracting talent and raising brand awareness.
- Communication between candidates and employers is broken, complicating the recruitment process. More than half (54.7%) of candidates say not hearing back from employers is among their top job search challenges. At the same time, 45% say getting ghosted by employers will impact their ability to find work in the coming year. Employers cite unresponsive applicants as their second most significant hiring challenge (51%).
“Finding qualified candidates has been one of employers’ chief challenges every year we’ve conducted our research, regardless of the economic climate or status of the job market,” says Steve Flook, iHire’s president and CEO. “Our annual report aims to advise hiring professionals on how to best attract the right talent, whether that means testing new recruitment technologies, leveraging AI, growing their employer brand, improving the candidate experience, or all of the above.”
