Recruiting Trends and Statistics: What the Data Tells Us

With high-profile news regarding layoffs in the U.S., enterprises might think that they have their pick of the candidate pool for recruiting, but that’s not the case. Almost 70% of companies are having serious difficulties finding workers for full-time positions. Is your organization finding that hard-to-fill roles are still hard to fill? Analyzing this year’s recruiting trends can help you overcome challenges. 

BIG RECRUITING TRENDS IN 2026

Recent recruitment statistics show fundamental differences in the way companies are looking for workers, evaluating them, and handling the hiring process. Some of these changes are due to technology, but others appear to reflect major shifts in American employment.

1. More Than 65% of Organizations Are Using Skills-Based Hiring

An increasing number of enterprises are pivoting away from judging candidates based on GPA or degrees, both when looking at entry-level candidates and experienced applicants. Roughly two-thirds of organizations hunt for skills, abilities, and practical experience.

An enterprise survey by Big Four firm Deloitte found that applicants prefer this method. Almost three-quarters of workers said they would feel more satisfied in a skills-based environment. Interestingly, almost 90% of executives agreed.

A skills-based hiring approach can increase the potential talent pool for your recruitment efforts and connect you with workers who have real growth potential. You can also lower total recruiter costs compared to exclusively hiring workers with college degrees.

2. CEOs Want AI in HR, But Only 35% of HR Teams Are Ready for It

Whether your organization views AI as hype or hyperscaler, many boards are pushing heavily for it in workflows. There are some genuinely insightful use cases in HR, such as streamlining the candidate selection process. That said, the reality is that most HR teams aren’t using AI and aren’t prepared for it.

According to a recent survey of 1,500 HR workers:

• More than 60% said they didn’t use AI at all for hiring or only minimally.
• Only about one-third of respondents said they felt “ready” to implement AI initiatives.
• Fewer than 15% of HR departments have implemented or plan on investing in AI, and most don’t see a return on investment.

Why the difference between C-suite expectations and HR realities? One obstacle is that AI tools can “hallucinate” in any field, not just text generation.

Without oversight, AI software can introduce recruiting biases. Valuable candidates can end up sidelined, models can invent skills, and document summaries can be inaccurate. Even when adopting AI to save time in HR tasks, a human must be in the loop to verify accuracy, fairness, and alignment with company priorities.

3. Two-Thirds of Candidates Use Gen AI for Applications

On a personal level, HR professionals are employing tools like ChatGPT. More than 85% of hiring managers admitted to using gen AI to create job listings or summarize applications. Almost 70% of applicants also turned to AI tools for help.

This has created new challenges for recruiting. Recent recruiter statistics show that HR professionals are overwhelmed by higher volumes of applications. High-quality workers can get lost in so much noise from low-effort applications.

Also, because of the way Gen AI is trained, recruiters and candidates are both pulling from the same source data. If ChatGPT helps you craft interview questions, candidates can ask the bot for the perfect answer to the same questions. It’s becoming harder to trust that candidate responses really represent their skills.

To get around this problem, many companies work with a recruitment agency for specialized roles. For example, if you need to hire an IT engineer or cybersecurity specialist, you need a recruiter who has experience in the field. That way, it’s possible to evaluate candidate knowledge and skills by what they say during the interview, not what they write on paper.

IMPORTANT HIRING STATISTICS FOR HR TEAMS

Hiring statistics tell a very different tale than stock-market expectations and social media fury. Successful HR teams make decisions based on real data.

4. More Than 65% of Job Candidates Choose Companies That Treat Them Well During the Hiring Process

According to a recent Gallup poll, virtually all job candidates expect to be treated well during the interview process. Here’s how new employees rated their experiences with the employer they chose:

• More than 25% felt the process was “exceptional.”
• Almost 40% described their employer’s approach as “very good.”
• “Good” was another common response (23%).
• Only 12% of workers rated the interview as “poor” or “acceptable.”

Even when workers need a job, they go where they feel valued and respected. If recruiters try to play scheduling games to establish “dominance,” the most likely outcome is that the candidate will simply go elsewhere.

5. AI Skills Aren’t As Important As Earning Calls Suggest

Before your recruiters hop on the AI hype train, you may want to set priorities for the skills that really matter to your organization. Interestingly, most of the C-suite in a recent survey (~75%) ranked AI skills fifth in importance.

What was the most valued skill? Critical thinking. Workers who can think critically are better at solving problems and contributing to real company growth.

The benefits of human-oriented skills are even larger for companies that train employees to adopt greater responsibilities. Even in AI-powered workflows, decision-making skills are vital to detect and avoid costly errors.

6. Interviews Are the Deciding Factor for Nearly Half of Candidates

If you asked corporate recruiters what is most important for persuading potential employees, some might respond “pay offers” or “videos.” But in recruitment data, the top answer candidates selected was “interviews with the people hiring me” (44%). In contrast, “job materials” like videos and gifts were only a factor 9% of the time.

This surprising hiring statistic reveals several insights about the way today’s candidates think:

• Human contact is a must: In-person or video chat interviews aren’t going anywhere. Candidates want to see a face and hold a real conversation, not read through bullet points.”
• Your recruiters represent you: You can’t expect to get good results with hiring if your recruiters don’t take the process seriously. On the other hand, a good recruiter who stays professional, friendly, respectful, and transparent makes candidates feel like they can trust your organization.
• Preparing for interviews matters: It’s not just candidates who need to be on time and ready for an interview. Hiring managers should have important information on hand so they can answer questions without vague responses like “I think so, but let me get back to you.”

If you’re tempted to pass off interviews to whoever happens to be free, don’t. This vital responsibility directly affects your organization’s ability to find high-quality candidates and persuade them to work for you. That’s not something you should leave to inexperienced personnel.

7. Most Workers (85%) Aren’t Thrilled About AI or Corporate America

Are you tempted to make AI experience a requirement for new hires? According to recruitment statistics, you may be inadvertently shooting yourself in the foot. After surveying more than 5,000 U.S. employees, Pew Research found that:

• Over 50% said AI makes them feel “worried.”
• One-third feel “overwhelmed” by AI tools.
• Over 30% are concerned that AI will hurt their job opportunities or career.

This also comes at a time when workers in general don’t trust executives or corporations. Fewer than 25% of employees believe their organization cares about their well-being. Despite record profits, publicly traded companies are cutting staff and giving CEOs massive bonuses.

In this situation, if you want to improve your hiring, you first need to build your reputation with current employees. Empty promises don’t cut it. Candidates look at what current and past employees say on review sites like Indeed and Glassdoor.

RECRUITER STATISTICS YOUR ORGANIZATION NEEDS TO KNOW

Keeping up to date with recruitment trends can give your organization an edge over competitors.

8. Labor Supply and Demand Vary Significantly by Geographic Location

Your company’s hiring experiences can depend on the state of the local market. In 2025 and 2026, job postings and worker demand can vary by 50% or more based on city size and location. For example, the job posting index in Washington, DC, is just 65%. In contrast, Houston and the surrounding area have JPI levels of about 115%, higher than before the COVID pandemic.

The takeaway? One way to resolve recruitment challenges is to broaden your search geographically. Making offers to workers in low-demand markets can help you find high-value employees at bargain prices.

9. Insisting on Return-to-Office Can Hurt Your Chances

A well-known recruiter found that 70% of organizations had greater success filling remote or hybrid roles. More than half of companies struggled to fill jobs with office-only work.

Despite what some employers want to think, remote work wasn’t a fad. It still resonates deeply with employees looking for a good work-life balance.

You can use this to your advantage. Hybrid work can be a major perk for attracting high-quality talent.

ACCORDING TO RECRUITING TRENDS, OUTSOURCED HIRING KEEPS RISING

Recruiting trends show that contract-to-hire and recruitment process outsourcing are growing in popularity for businesses of every size, especially in IT and cybersecurity roles. At TSP, we’re experts in outsourced IT services, RPO, and IT staffing, and we have a broad pool of qualified professionals. Schedule an appointment to discover IT recruitment solutions that fit your organization perfectly.