MyPerfectResume, a leading career and resume service, has announced the findings from its 2024 Recruiting Trends Survey, which examines the latest recruiting industry trends and issues, including the impact of remote work on talent acquisition, the extensive use of ghost jobs, and the efficacy of AI recruiting tools.
Polling 753 recruiters across the U.S., the survey finds that despite very high adoption rates (96%), only 35% of recruiters believe that AI recruiting tools are effective in helping them identify the right candidates. The survey also finds a significant number (81%) of companies posting ghost jobs, a practice that can lead to extra friction and frustration for job seekers as not every role they apply for is an open position.
“While AI can potentially enhance recruiting efforts, our survey shows it’s not quite the game changer we may have hoped for yet,” says Jasmine Escalera, a career expert for MyPerfectResume. “Additionally, the widespread use of ghost jobs seriously undermines the job search, creating distrust among companies and job seekers. Talent acquisition must lead with a human-first approach to the process and foster more transparency and trust.”
Other highlights include the following.
- Most (83%) recruiters believe the rise in remote work opportunities has improved the quality of the applicant pools.
- Fake job posts are prevalent, with 36% of recruiters saying about a quarter of their job posts are ghost jobs, 22% saying that about half of all the ads they post are fake, and 17% reporting up to 75% of the job postings they list are not jobs they intend to fill.
- Most (96%) recruiters use AI recruiting tools but only 35% believe they are effective at helping them identify the right candidates.
Recruiters faced many challenges during the pandemic due to an extremely tight labor market. Despite a softening labor market, recruiters still struggle to find enough qualified candidates to fill their open positions. The survey finds that remote work opportunities are helping to widen the applicant pool. In fact, most recruiters (83%) say they believe remote work has improved the quality of the applicants they attract.
When asked how the availability of remote work affected their willingness to consider candidates from different geographic locations, 92% of recruiters say that it has increased their willingness.
Still, the overwhelming preference is to hire locally. When asked whether they prefer hiring local candidates over remote candidates, about half (49%) have a strong preference for local candidates, while 47% have some amount of preference for local candidates.
Despite their preference for local hires, recruiters participating in the survey were open to talent from different geographies when asked if they would consider candidates who needed to relocate, with 73% of respondents saying they would consider relocation and their employer provides relocation support. More than a quarter (26%) say they would consider hiring a non-local candidate, but their employer does not provide relocation support.
“Overall, the survey uncovered some compelling issues and trends in today’s recruiting landscape,” says Escalera. “Most notably, the option to work remotely is a tool that is helping recruiters attract a higher quality of candidate and meet their hiring needs. Conversely, we need to reassess the use of ghost jobs as a strategy and weigh the effectiveness and quality of AI recruiting tools before leaning too heavily on their use.”
