30+ HR and Recruiting Stats for 2020

Introduction

In times of low unemployment, employers must work harder to recruit and retain top talent. This means understanding what job seekers are looking for when you’re recruiting, paying close attention to the experience you create for them, and choosing your hiring channels wisely to meet the expectations of today’s job seeker.

The following report provides a comprehensive guide for the landscape you’ll encounter in 2020.

Here’s to your best hiring year yet!

Recruiting

Attracting, screening, and hiring the right candidates is no easy feat. Quality candidates who are informed about important aspects of working at your organisation are more likely to be hired. What’s more, once an informed candidate becomes an employee, they’re more likely to be productive and engaged.

1 | The average cost-per-hire in the UK is £3,000.¹

2 | The average length of the job interview process in the UK is 27.5 days. ²

3 | 76% of hiring decision makers say attracting quality candidates is their number one challenge.³

4 | 88% of hiring decision makers agree that an informed candidate is a quality candidate.³

5 | The top benefits of hiring informed candidates are:³

• Better employee retention
• More productive employees
• More engaged employees

6 | 75% of hiring decision makers say it’s easier to attract top talent when they know of or about your organisation.³

7 | Top barriers or challenges hiring decision makers face when recruiting quality candidates:³

• Quality of candidates
• Budget constraints
• Trouble competing with compensation and benefits packages at other firms
• Knowing where to advertise jobs to attract the right people
• Attracting millennials.

8 | 76% of hiring decision-makers report a concern or challenge in attracting and hiring passive candidates, as they have grown wary of aggressive contact through networking sites (e.g. LinkedIn) and respond at a much lower rate.³

9 | When making a decision on where to apply for a job, 84% of employees/job seekers say the reputation of a company as an employer of choice is important.⁴

Inside the Mind of Job Seekers

Job seekers today are operating in an era of unprecedented transparency, where detailed information on nearly every organisation is available right at their fingertips. Informed candidates know this and use it to their advantage. That’s why they turn to Glassdoor to evaluate companies — researching things like open roles, compensation, benefits, company reputation, career opportunities and more.

Understanding what type of information job seekers want most can help you communicate with candidates more effectively.

10 | 83% of employees/job seekers are likely to research company reviews and ratings if deciding on where to apply for a job.⁵

11 | 93% of employees/job seekers say it is important to be thoughtful and informed about all aspects of a company (e.g. culture, values, mission, business model, future plans, pros and cons about the workplace) prior to accepting a job offer. ⁵

12 | The majority (52%) of job seekers report that their preferred source for finding a relevant new job opportunity is an online job site, such as Glassdoor. ⁵

13 | Job seekers seek the following key pieces of information when viewing job postings: salary, location, commute time, benefits, employee reviews. ⁶

14 | When it comes to making a job seeker complete the application process for your open job, the most important factor is a convenient, easy commute (48%), followed closely by a good work-life balance (47%) and company culture (35%).⁶

15 | Job seekers’ biggest frustrations during the hiring process include: companies cancelling/postponing interviews (44%), not having enough information about job responsibilities (44%), and recruiters/hiring managers not responding in a timely manner (43%).⁶

16 | The #1 reason for candidates pulling out of the recruitment process is the employer announcing redundancies (40%).⁶

17 | The biggest factors contributing to a positive process include: getting feedback from the company, even if they were not hired (53%), and the company providing clear expectations ahead of an interview, so the candidate can prepare (50%).⁶

18 | More than 2 in 3 (70%) of Glassdoor UK users agree that their perception of a company improves after seeing an employer respond to a review. ⁷

19 | 73% of Glassdoor UK users are more likely to apply to an open job if the employer is active on Glassdoor (e.g. responds to reviews, updates their profile, shares updates on the culture and work environment).⁷

Employee Retention

In an increasingly competitive labour market, employers are looking for ways to retain current employees. Proven retention strategies include creating a great culture, offering development opportunities and clear pathways to promotions, along with market-competitive compensation.

20 | The average overall turnover rate is 19%.⁸

21 | The average voluntary turnover rate is 12%.⁸

22 | It costs employers 33% of a worker’s annual salary to hire a replacement if that worker leaves. ⁹

23 | Role changes are almost 3X more likely to occur by changing employers rather than being promoted from within.¹⁰

24 | 73% of workers left their employer to change roles.¹⁰

25 | 27% of workers stayed at the same employer. ¹⁰

26 | Workers who changed jobs earned an average pay raise of £2,065.88 per year or 5.2%. ¹⁰

27 | A 1-star improvement in a company’s Glassdoor rating raises the odds that a typical employee will stay for their next role by 4%.¹⁰

28 | For workers who posted CVs on Glassdoor, employees changed jobs on average every 15 months, ranging from less than a month to more than seven years in the same job.¹⁰

29 | On average, stagnating in a given role for an additional 10 months is associated with a 1% higher chance that the typical employee will leave the company for their next job — a statistically significant impact.¹⁰

30 | On average, a 10% higher base pay is associated with a 1.5% higher chance that a worker will stay at the company for their next role — a statistically significant effect.¹⁰

Reasons to Use Glassdoor

There are many options to choose from when thinking about where to allocate your employer branding resources. Glassdoor, with its unique combination of reviews, job listings and employer branding tools, is a top destination for job seekers and employers alike. These stats will show you why.

31 | Glassdoor receives an average of 6.3M visits per month in the UK.¹²

32 | The age breakdown of Glassdoor UK users is as follows:¹³

34 | The breakdown of Glassdoor UK users’ years of experience is as follows:¹⁴

35 | 91% of Glassdoor UK users have a university degree.¹⁴

Conclusion

Recruiting and HR success in 2020 and beyond will be about understanding candidate and employee needs and crafting experiences to meet them.

Whether that’s a streamlined interview process, a focus on belonging in the workplace, or getting your jobs in front of the right candidates at the right time, it means actively adapting to the ever-changing marketplace.

At Glassdoor, we continue to be a top destination for talented candidates as they seek a great job at a company they love.