iHire Publishes 2024 State of Online Recruiting Report

Sixth annual research report shares insights from survey of 2,200+ U.S. employers and job seekers on trends including AI adoption and talent shortages

Frederick, Maryland –  iHire has published its 2024 State of Online Recruiting Report, offering an inside look into the hiring and job search trends shaping talent 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 United States and from 57 industries, the sixth annual research report is now available here: www.iHire.com/SOOR24.

Key findings and data points detailed in the iHire’s report include the following:

AI usage in recruitment has increased threefold year-over-year.

• 14.7% of employers said they are currently using AI in their recruitment efforts, up from 4.9% who said the same in 2023 – a 200% increase.

• Job seekers have also amplified their AI adoption: In 2024, 17.3% of candidates surveyed said they had used AI tools in the past year to write their resume or cover letter, up from 2.8% who said the same in 2023 – a 518% increase.

Talent shortages persist despite a more stable labor market and steady hiring needs.

• 63.3% of employers cited receiving too many unqualified applicants as one of their biggest recruiting challenges; 39.1% said the same about receiving too few applicants.

• 63.1% of companies expect a talent shortage/lack of qualified candidates to impact their ability to hire in the next year.

• 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 external factors, such as the U.S. economy and election, impacting the employment landscape.

• 45.3% of candidates believe economic uncertainty will impact their job search or career growth in the coming year, compared to 34.0% of employers who said the economy will affect their ability to hire.

• 17.1% of candidates and 8.7% of employers were concerned about political discourse in the workplace due to the U.S. election.

Job boards remain relevant as they evolve to meet employers’ and job seekers’ needs.

• 68.1% of companies said they use job boards/recruitment platforms for “all” or “most” of their hiring, and 34.3% expect their use to increase in the coming year.

• 67.0% of candidates applied for a role through a job board in the past year.

• 69.7% of job seekers always visit a hiring company’s website before applying for a role they find on a job board, suggesting job boards are critical sources for initially attracting talent and raising brand awareness.

Communication between candidates and employers is broken, complicating the recruitment process.

• 54.7% of candidates said not hearing back from employers/getting ghosted was among their top job search challenges. 

• 45.0% of job seekers believe getting ghosted by employers will affect their ability to find work in the coming year.

• Employers cited unresponsive applicants as their second most significant hiring challenge (51.0%).

“Finding qualified candidates has been one of employers’ chief challenges every year we’ve conducted our State of Online Recruiting Report research, regardless of the economic climate or status of the job market,” said 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.”

Read iHire’s 2024 State of Online Recruiting Report here: www.iHire.com/SOOR24.

Research Methodology

iHire surveyed 1,637 job seekers and 586 employers from across the U.S. and from 57 industries in June 2024 via the Qualtrics XM platform. Respondents came from iHire’s job seeker and employer databases. All decimal points are rounded to the nearest tenth. For many questions, multiple answers could be selected, so percentages add up to a sum greater than 100%. In some instances, survey questions were skipped by an individual respondent.