The Hire Standard
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March 2026
Hiring got hard. Recruiters got better. Here’s how.
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The Hire Standard benchmark report provides a new look at how recruiters perform in this new hiring environment.
We analysed data in Europe from over 800 companies and over 17M applications between 2022 and 2025 to understand how recruiters actually fared and what that might mean in the future, especially as AI continues to serve as a key lever for both candidates and recruiters.
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Applications surged while recruiting teams shrunk
Applications flooded pipelines while teams had to manage twice as many applications with half as many recruiters.
Increase in annual applications per recruiter
+385%
More applications
per job
+85%
Fewer recruiters per organisation
-57%
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Recruiters outperformed closing and hiring rates
Recruiters vastly overperformed, hiring at more than twice the rate since 2022, despite high application volumes and a longer time-to-fill.
2022
1.6
Monthly hires
Monthly hires
2023
1.7
Monthly hires
Monthly hires
2024
2.4
Monthly hires
Monthly hires
2025
3.5
Monthly hires
Monthly hires
Increase in monthly hires per recruiter
+113%
2022
63.01
Jobs closed
Jobs closed
2023
61.54
Jobs closed
Jobs closed
2024
67.53
Jobs closed
Jobs closed
2025
71.15
Jobs closed
Jobs closed
Improvement in jobs closed with hire
+13%
2022
44.39
Time-to-fill
Time-to-fill
2023
50.92
Time-to-fill
Time-to-fill
2024
57.58
Time-to-fill
Time-to-fill
2025
62.24
Time-to-fill
Time-to-fill
Increase in time-to-fill
+40%
Recruiters work best when empowered by tools and processes
Two experts in the hiring world, Matt Alder and Ariana Moon agree that high-performing recruiting teams must adapt to this new normal with technology, process changes, and a human-centred approach.
For the complete list of benchmarks and expert insights, download the full report.
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