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iHire Publishes its 2021 State of Online Recruiting Report

HR Tech Outlook | Tuesday, August 10, 2021

With an industry-specific, candidate-centric, and data-driven approach to recruitment, iHire helps candidates find meaningful work, and employers find unique, high-quality talent – faster, easier, and more effectively than a general job board.

FREMONT, CA: iHire published its 2021 State of Online Recruiting Report, an inside look at the most prevalent challenges, opportunities, and trends in the talent acquisition space. The third annual report, which showcases the results of iHire’s survey of 6,370 U.S. employers and job seekers from 57 industries, illustrates job market recovery and an ongoing talent shortage.

Key themes found in iHire’s 2021 State of Online Recruiting report include the following:

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Hiring is back in action. After a tumultuous 2020, companies are hiring fast and furiously – 86.2 percent of employers surveyed indicated that they are currently hiring, a 13.4 percent uptick from last year’s report. In addition, 66.6 percent of employers said they increased hiring within the past year, and just 20.6 percent expressed concern with limited hiring budgets in the next 12 months.

Employers are (still) experiencing a talent shortage. Despite the 5.9 percent U.S. unemployment rate and potentially deep talent pools, 73.9 percent of employers cited “too few qualified candidates” among their most significant online recruiting challenges. Similarly, 77.0 percent anticipate a shortage of qualified applicants throughout the coming year. For perspective, 2021 marks the third straight year that survey respondent struggled with candidate quality above any other hiring challenge.

Job board usage is up. 58.9 percent of employers said they increased their reliance on job boards and online recruiting platforms in the past year. Further, 49.6 percent said they do most of their recruiting through job boards, and 23.4 percent said they do all their recruiting through job boards. However, employers are also leveraging referrals (used by 70.6 percent of respondents), social media (57.0 percent), and their websites (50.2 percent) to source talent.

Applicant-employer communication is lagging. 46.8 percent of employers said that “unresponsive candidates” (not hearing back from applicants after reaching out) is a top online recruiting pain point. On the other hand, 48.8 percent of job seekers said the same about employers – they are frustrated with applying for jobs and receiving no response. Moving forward, both parties will need to commit to communicating with one another and say “no” to ghosting if they want to find the right hires and the right opportunities.

  • Employers and job seekers digress on the future of remote work. Despite remote work taking center stage since March 2020, just a quarter (25.5 percent) of employers said they expect to see continued candidate interest in remote work in the coming year. However, job seeker responses suggest no shortage of “work-from-home” interest and opportunities: Only 16.5 percent of job seekers said they struggle to find remote work when searching for jobs online, and a mere 19.2 percent foresee difficulty finding remote work in the next 12 months.

“Economic recovery is underway as businesses rebuild from COVID-19, but our research suggests that companies are still experiencing a shortage of qualified talent – although 9.5 million Americans are unemployed,” said Steve Flook, iHire’s President, and CEO. “At the same time, we’re undergoing one of the greatest periods of disruption in how and where work gets done. With a triple-whammy of unemployment, remote work, and the rise in professionals contemplating career changes, recruiters and job seekers need guidance now more than ever. Our annual State of Online Recruiting Report is here to help.”

iHire has been selected as one of the Top 10 Recruitment Software Solution Providers - 2019 by the HR Tech Outlook Magazine.

“Anyone can use technology to improve the way they do business, whether that involves simplifying talent acquisition or automating a task,” Flook concluded. “People are your most valuable asset, which is why finding, hiring and retaining talent is more important than ever. That makes what we do— connecting employers with qualified candidates—much more meaningful.”

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