As a hiring software company, it’s important for us to stay up to date on the latest hiring and retention trends. We do this by conducting our own original research throughout the year and paying attention to research from other reputable sources.

In such an unprecedented time in the labor market, there’s a lot of information out there and it can be difficult to cut through all the noise. That’s why we compiled some of the most compelling hiring statistics that every employer should know in 2022. This data sheds a light on what job seekers and employees are looking for and how to hire and retain the right people. 

Retention and turnover statistics 

The best recruiting strategy is retention, but many employers are dealing with high rates of turnover. Let’s look at how many employees are quitting this year, and some clues on what might be driving this shift. 

• 47.4 million people voluntarily quit their job in 2021, a phenomenon dubbed “The Great Resignation”. 

• In a survey of hourly workers, CareerPlug found 55% of all employees are currently seeking or will be seeking new employment in order to get a pay increase in 2022. 

• ​​64% of those workers seeking an opportunity for a pay raise said they would stay at their current job if their employer gave them the compensation they were looking for. 

• 66% of those employees said that they would stay at their current job if their employer offered additional benefits instead of a pay increase.

• 67% of hourly workers we surveyed said they would explore new industries or fields this year in order to get the pay increase they’re looking for. 

• A staggering 91% of healthcare workers seeking a raise said they would explore new industries or fields in 2022. 

• Leisure and hospitality workers are quitting at the highest rates of any industry with about one million quitting in November 2021 alone.

Recruiting metrics 

Paying attention to certain recruiting metrics can help you hire better. Every year, we look at our clients’ metrics to get a pulse on what’s happening in the job market and offer suggestions for hiring process improvements. Here are some important takeaways from CareerPlug’s recent Recruiting Metrics Report. 

• We found that the number of new jobs posted using CareerPlug in 2021 increased 49% over the previous year, but applicant flow was actually down 30%. 

• Jobs posted in January received an average of 40% more applicants per job than the yearly average. 

• Job boards produced 72% of all applications but less than half of hires. 

• In our analysis, an applicant who applied directly from a company careers page was 4 times more likely to be hired than an applicant from a job board. 

• An applicant who applied from a referral was 18 times more likely to be hired than an applicant from a job board. 

• In 2020, the average time to hire was 24.7 days, but in 2021, that number dropped to 18.4 days. This means that employers were hiring 6.3 days – nearly a week! – faster than they were the previous year. 

Attracting the right people  

If you have open roles, you may be wondering what job seekers are looking for. Let’s take a look at some of the trends we’ve seen over the last year. This information can give you clues on where your job postings or hiring process might be lacking, so that you can adjust accordingly and attract more applicants. 

• Today’s job seekers rank careers pages as the #1 way to learn about a company. 

• 77% of people would consider a company’s culture before applying for a job there, and 56% ranked a strong workplace culture as more important than salary. 

• 85% of job seekers and employees research company reviews and ratings when deciding to apply for a job. 

• 45% of job seekers search for jobs daily using a mobile device, and 89% of job seekers consider mobile devices key in the job-hunting process.

• Nearly 40% of job candidates worldwide said schedule flexibility is one of their top three factors in career decisions.

Candidate experience statistics

Attracting applicants is the first battle. In order to turn those applicants into hires, employers must consider the candidate experience. This is the experience a person has with you from application to offer stage (and all points in between) and it can make or break your ability to hire. Let’s look at some of the most interesting statistics around candidate experience that we found in the last year. (Read even more in our 2021 Candidate Experience Report.)

• 58% of job seekers have declined an offer due to poor candidate experience. 

• 80% of candidates said a positive candidate experience influenced their decision to accept an offer.

• The number one reason candidates turned down job offers was a negative experience with people in the interview process.

• 84% of job seekers said that responsiveness after initially applying influenced their decision to accept an offer.

• CareerPlug clients who use text recruiting have a 32% faster time-to-hire rate.

• 39% of job seekers expect to be informed about compensation in the job posting. 

• 17 states have passed laws around pay transparency, and 7 of those require companies to put a salary range in the job description. 

Though the labor market has been tumultuous this year, one thing is for sure: Job seekers and employees are enjoying the power shift in their direction and demanding more from their places of work. As an employer, think of this as a positive thing and take action to ensure that you’re giving job seekers and employees what they’re looking for.

We hope these statistics help you better understand the state of hiring today and help you make improvements to your recruitment and retention processes.