What Can Recruiting Data Tells Us: Insights from Pinpoint's Trends Report

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the flood of applications lately? Or wondering why it seems harder to hit your hiring targets? You're not alone, and there's actual data to explain what's happening.

Pinpoint's recruiting trends report, which analyses over 10 million applications and 160,000 hires, confirmed what many of us have been feeling, but also revealed some trends that can help us work smarter. I have pulled together the most important findings and what they mean.

Let's dive into the numbers and discover how we can use them to improve our recruiting efforts.

The Three Big Trends in Recruiting Right Now

1. Recruiters Now Review More Applications For Each Position

For each person hired in late 2023, recruiters had to sort through an average of 72 applications. That's according to Pinpoint's analysis of over 10 million applications from October to December 2023.

Two years earlier, recruiters only needed to review about 49 applications to make a single hire. That means the workload per position has increased by 46% in just two years and based on what we keep hearing, the rise of AI is making this even worse now.

When we look at where these applications come from, the data shows that job boards, direct applications, and social media bring in the most applications per hire. Which can seem good, but they also bring a lot of noise for recruiters and increase workload when there are many unqualified candidates coming through

.

‍

However, employee referrals, sourcing (both in-house and external recruiters), and organic search result in fewer applications to review but end up converting to hires more often. According to Pinpoint's data, referred candidates are 7 times more likely to be hired than candidates who apply through job boards. 

This confirms what many recruiters have observed firsthand - more targeted channels require less screening work and get better hiring conversion rates.

2. Faster Time to Hire

Despite dealing with more applications, the average time to hire has actually reduced by 18% between 2022 and 2023. This is based on data from more than 160,000 hires made by Pinpoint customers across various industries and company sizes.

Note: The report defines time to hire as "the time it takes the one successful candidate to move through the recruitment process, from application to offer acceptance."

Considering more applications, this seems counterintuitive given there are more applications. We will have to see how the trends evolve with this year's reporting insights when they are released.

‍

3. Fewer Hires Per Recruiter

Despite moving faster with each hire, the average number of hires per recruiter has fallen to 3.9 for jobs opened between October and December 2023. That's a significant 54% drop from just one year earlier.

Putting all three trends together tells an interesting story: recruiters are handling more applications per hire and moving candidates through the process faster, but are making fewer hires overall. This suggests recruiters are working harder on each individual hire.

‍

Understanding the Six Key Benchmarks

Pinpoint also goes a step further with their open source data and offers six benchmarking metrics that can help you understand how your recruiting efforts compare to others: 

1. Applicants Per Hire by Channel: Measures how many applicants you need to review from each source (job boards, referrals, etc.) to make one hire.‍
2. Applicants Per Hire by Industry: Shows the average number of applicants reviewed per hire in different industries.‍
3. Average Time to Fill by Seniority: Tracks how long it takes to fill positions based on seniority level (entry-level, management, executive, etc.).‍
4. Average Time to Fill by Industry: Measures the average time it takes to fill open positions in different industries.‍
5. Average Time to Hire by Industry: Tracks how long candidates spend in the hiring process (from application to offer acceptance) across different industries.
6. ‍Average Number of Hires per Recruiter: Measures recruiter productivity in terms of how many positions each recruiter fills in a given time period.

CEO’s and CFO’s love benchmarks. They also give you a good indication of how you are tracking so jump over and take a look in more detail.

Making Sense of the Increasing Application Numbers

With applications per hire up 46%in 2023, and then 2024 coming in hot with more and more recruiters indicating they are feeling overwhelmed. Here's what the report suggests we can do about it:

Focus on Channels That Work

The data shows that not all application sources are equal. When Pinpoint analyzed where hires actually come from, employee referrals stood out as 7 times more effective than job boards.

Rather than just tracking the number of applications from each channel, we should track which channels actually result in hires. This might mean shifting resources from high-volume, low-conversion channels for better results.

Write More Honest Job Descriptions

Glenn Elliott, co-author of Build It: The Rebel Playbook for World-Class Employee Engagement, couldn’t have said it any better: "The right job advert will repel 90% of candidates. But to the right candidate, it will sound like their dream job."

Being clearer about what the job actually involves, the company culture, and the specific requirements can help the wrong candidates select themselves out before applying. This reduces the number of applications you need to review.

Use Filtering Tools Effectively

The data suggests that successful recruiters are using tools like:

• Knockout questions to quickly identify unqualified candidates
• Automated (but personalised) rejection emails to maintain good candidate experience
• ATS tagging features to organise candidate profiles for easier searching
• Options for candidates to indicate interest in alternative roles

Improving Your Most Efficient Channels

Employee Referral Programs

The report highlighted that referrals are 7 times more likely to be hired than job board applicants. This makes referral programs one of the most valuable recruitment tools.

Companies using Pinpoint that offer referral bonuses typically pay between $1,000-$1,500 for successful hires. While this might seem expensive, the data suggests it's actually more cost-effective when you consider the reduced time and effort spent reviewing less suitable candidates. Do you have a referral program? If not, maybe you should consider it as part of your strategy.

Organic Search Strategies

According to the report, organic search typically brings in two types of candidates:

• People who already know about your company and want to work there
• People searching for relevant terms who discover your company during their job search

Both groups typically produce higher-quality applications than broad job board postings. Building your employer brand and ensuring your careers site is well-optimised for search can help you attract more of these candidates.

Strategies to Reduce Time to Hire

Despite the increase in applications, recruiters have managed to reduce time to hire by 18%. Here's what the data suggests is working:

Identifying Process Bottlenecks

The report identifies three common bottlenecks:

1. Application review
2. Interview scheduling
3. Offer creation and signing

Tracking the time candidates spend in each stage of your process can help identify where your specific bottlenecks are.

Speeding Up Application Review

According to the data, interface design in your ATS can make a big difference. Pinpoint's customers found they could review candidates up to 75% faster using features like a candidate queue or split screen mode.

Automation tools like automatic rejection of candidates who don't meet hard requirements or automatic tagging of candidates with certain qualifications can also significantly speed up this stage.

More Efficient Interviewing

The data shows that automated interview scheduling has helped some recruiters cut the time candidates spend in the interview stage by up to 50%.

Additionally, providing comprehensive interview kits to hiring managers (including all the information they need in the calendar invite) has been shown to speed up the interview process in real-world examples.

Streamlining Background Checks and Offers

When background checks integrate directly with your ATS, the hiring team can review results and make decisions much more quickly.

E-signatures and automated offer management have dramatically sped up the final stage of hiring, with one manufacturing company reducing their contract signing time to about 1 hour.

Understanding the Decline in Hires per Recruiter

The 54% drop in hires per recruiter over one year is significant. The Pinpoint report suggests several possible explanations:

1. More Selective Hiring: Companies may be being more cautious about who they hire, requiring recruiters to review more candidates for each position.
   
   
2. More Complex Roles: The mix of roles being hired for may be shifting toward more specialized or senior positions that take longer to fill.
   
   
3. Quality vs. Quantity: Recruiters might be focusing on making better hires rather than more hires, spending more time with each candidate.
   
   
4. Economic Factors: Changes in the broader economy and job market are likely playing a role as well.
   
   

Why This Data Matters

Understanding these trends helps us in several ways:

1. Setting Realistic Expectations: Knowing the benchmarks for your industry helps you set reasonable timelines and workload expectations.
   
   
2. Process Improvement: Identifying where your metrics differ from the benchmarks can highlight areas for improvement.
   
   
3. Resource Allocation: The data shows which channels and activities give the best return on investment.
   
   
4. Measuring Success: Having clear benchmarks gives you a way to measure the impact of changes you make to your recruiting process.
   
   

How Technology Can Support Data-Driven Recruiting

The right technology can help address all three major trends:

1. For Managing More Applications: Tools that help filter, tag, and organise candidates can make high volumes manageable.
   
   
2. For Reducing Time to Hire: Automation of administrative tasks, streamlined interfaces, and integrated systems can remove bottlenecks.
   
   
3. For Improving Recruiter Productivity: Analytics that identify what's working and what isn't can help recruiters focus their efforts more effectively.
   
   

If you're looking to improve your recruiting tech stack, it's worth checking out different options on the Stakkd HR tech database, which includes Pinpoint and other recruiting platforms.

The Takeaway for Recruiters

The data from Pinpoint's trend report shows that recruiting is becoming more competitive, with more applications to sort through for each hire. But at the same time, recruiters are finding ways to move faster and be more selective, supported by their technology.

What's your experience with these trends? Are you seeing similar patterns in your recruiting work? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts!

‍

AI Compliance in Recruitment: What HR Tech Leaders Need to Know Now

I recently co-hosted Brainfood live with Hung Lee, diving deep into AI compliance in recruitment with some brilliant minds in the space. I found the conversation incredibly timely - especially since every chat I have with the HR community lately ends with "but what about compliance?"

Let me share the key insights that really stood out to me, and what I think you need to know as we navigate this rapidly changing landscape.

The Compliance Landscape Isn't as Scary as It Seems

First off, if you're feeling overwhelmed by all the AI regulations popping up, you're not alone. Martyn Redstone from the UK explained that while the UK is in a bit of limbo post-Brexit, his advice to clients is simple: follow the EU AI Act as your baseline. It's the most comprehensive framework out there, and if you comply with it, you'll likely be covered elsewhere.

What surprised me was Guru’s perspective that the US and EU approaches are actually converging more than we think. While we often picture the EU as super restrictive and the US as a free for all, Guru pointed out that even with the new US administration, states like California, New York, and even Texas are pushing forward with their own AI regulations. The reality? We're all heading toward similar standards around transparency and responsible AI use.

The Human Element Remains Critical

One thing that really resonated with me was the discussion about "human in the loop" requirements. Steffen from Germany explained that under the EU AI Act, AI can't make final hiring decisions on its own. Initially, this might sound like a roadblock to efficiency, but I see it differently.

As I mentioned during the show, it's really about how we design jobs and workflows. If we thoughtfully design the collaboration between humans and AI, we can move beyond just rubber-stamping AI decisions to actually leveraging both human judgment and AI capabilities effectively.

The key takeaway? Don't view these requirements as limitations - see them as opportunities to reimagine how we work with AI, and how we keep Humans in the Loop.

Watch Out for These Red Flags

The panel highlighted several concerning trends in AI recruitment tools:

1. Video AI Analysis: Guru raised valid concerns about AI that analyzes facial expressions, body language, or voice pitch during video interviews. The problem isn't just the creepy factor - it's that these tools often can't explain what correlations they're using to make decisions.
   
   
2. LLM-based Screening: Martin was particularly vocal about startups using large language models (like ChatGPT) for candidate screening without proper explainability. If your vendor's idea of transparency is "good prompting," that's a red flag.
   
   
3. Social Scoring: This was a big no-no in the EU AI Act. Any AI that scores candidates based on behavior, personal characteristics, or socioeconomic status is heading for trouble.
   
   

The Innovation Opportunity

What got me really excited was the discussion about reimagining recruitment rather than just automating existing processes. Guru shared an example from his Capital One days where they built AI simulators to assess candidates' problem-solving skills in real scenarios. This isn't just replacing human screening - it's doing something humans struggle with: objectively assessing skills at scale.

Nina from x0pa made an excellent point about skills-based hiring. AI can identify complementary skills that keyword searches miss. Her example was: if a job requires 15 years as a "data scientist," traditional screening would reject candidates who have the skills but predate the job title. AI can recognize that someone with statistics and modeling experience plus 5 years as a data scientist might be perfect for the role.

Practical Steps for HR Leaders

Based on the discussion, here's what I recommend:

1. Start with the EU AI Act: Even if you're not in Europe, use it as your compliance baseline. It's comprehensive and will likely keep you safe as other regulations emerge.
   
   
2. Demand Transparency: When evaluating AI tools, ask vendors to explain exactly how decisions are made. If they can't, walk away.
   
   
3. Think Beyond Automation: Don't just automate existing processes. Consider how AI can help you do things that weren't possible before, like skills-based assessment at scale.
   
   
4. Document Everything: Keep records of your AI usage, decision-making processes, and how you're ensuring fairness. This will be crucial for compliance.
   
   
5. Stay Informed: The landscape is changing quarterly. As Hung suggested, we should have a quarterly session on this and I am here for it.
   
   

Looking Ahead

Andrew made a point that really stuck with me about workforce planning. We're moving toward more flexible workforce models with fractional workers and AI agents. This isn't just about compliance - it's about fundamentally rethinking how we build and manage teams.

The good news? Standards are emerging. Guru mentioned ISO 42001 certification for AI governance, which could become the "GDPR compliance" stamp for AI tools. We're also seeing best practices from other industries (like financial services) that we can adopt.

Final Thoughts

As someone who's been in  transformation and HR for years, I see AI compliance not as a burden but as an opportunity. Yes, we need to be careful and responsible. But within these frameworks, there's incredible potential to make hiring more fair, efficient, and skills-focused than ever before.

The key is to stay informed, ask the right questions, and remember that at the end of the day, we're making decisions that affect people's lives and livelihoods. That human element - the one the EU AI Act is trying to protect - is exactly what makes our work in HR so important.

Keep the conversation going, and remember: we're all figuring this out together. The fact that you're reading this means you're already ahead of the curve!

Looking for HR tech or AI check out Stakkd’s HR tech and AI database.

‍

I don't want to say I told you so. But... I told you so.

In december last year I had a viral post predicting that HR is Dead in 2025. Now 5-ish months later two well known industry experts are saying a similar thing (Kevin Wheeler - read this + Josh Bersin - read this)

So yeah. HR is Dead. Your job WILL change or be replaced by AI.

I don't mean to be dramatic. But you know what I mean. It's coming. It's not going to switch over all of a sudden tomorrow. BUT we ARE moving there slowly and you need to be moving with things. As an individual and as an organisation.

It's important to understand that HR are entering a VERY messy and uncomfortable period. Josh Bersin said it well in his article:

"We[HR] have to find a way to “be productive” while we try to “make the company productive.”

Did you read that? HR are required to re-design themselves and the organisation at the same time. It's a huge ask. It's probably the BIGGEST transformation that any function will need to go through in a business. And the question of HOW pops up again and again in all webinars and community forums. HOW can HR do this? We struggle to keep up as it is, but are also expected to change an entire organisations way of working through digital(ai) transformation (with little help) while "doing more with less".

There are three whooping big issues I see with this whole picture that are going to hurt:

1. HR (mostly) don't have the skills for what's required for the NEW future of HR
2. they don't get any investment to actually DO anything
3. we are building HR the wrong way

So let's dive into each of these.

The HR Skills Gap

We are currently in the early messy phase of HR transformation. Old HR will continue to lose jobs to AI. The roles you have now will not be the same in the future. But there IS a silver lining. There will be "new HR" jobs and that's where you need to focus your upskilling.

You can start by reading the Future of Jobs report 2025 by the World Economic Forum (see image below). It shares some insights into which skills will be more needed. But if you think about it, anything that helps you deliver change and build what is needed (AI enabled processes), then it's probably a safe bet.

Things like: systems thinking, data infrastructure, human/ai process design, agent orchestration (a new one that's gonna come fast), project management, change management, communications, knowledge management....couple that with the empathy and human orientation HR professionals usually have - it's a winner.

You can see in that list there is nothing traditionally HR about those skills. But they are all needed in HR. And yes, expertise in HR topics will still be needed to some extent, but it won't be the core skills needed anymore. So think about where you have gaps and prioritise it.

HR needs Investment

It's all fun and games to say HR need to "transform" but transformation costs money and time and needs certain skills (those things we just talked about). I have NEVER seen a well funded and supported HR function to date in my career. Maybe they exist, but I have not experienced it and I know many of you have not either.

It's a bit silly really. We have founders and CEOs saying they want the benefits of AI but are not willing to do what's necessary....which is to invest. So HR get stuck with more work and more expectations they can't meet.

If you are in this situation, the best place to start is with a strategy and then end with an options paper. You can read this post about how I approach "being more strategic in HR" or reach out if you want support. And you see, doing nothing is always an option. And a lot of the time, the unsaid choice is to "do nothing". But it's not consciously owned, and therefore the consequences are also not.

That's why I say to do an options paper. Make them DECIDE to do nothing. Start making the connections: IF we don't do X, Y will happen (it's actually a good technique to use with toddlers). Make sure the consequences are crystal clear. It makes choosing to DO SOMETHING, way easier. Formulate it in a way that a choice must be made and owned.

And REMEMBER: It is NOT HR's job to save the company from itself.

Again, if you are struggling with this, reach out. I don't bite, but I do charge.

We are building HR the wrong way

As I highlighted earlier. HR needs to re-design themselves. We have an outdated way of working. The OPERATING MODEL is broken. And it will break more when we start adding more tech and AI on top without thinking it through.

We need to build an engine that delivers enablement of organisational success. HR, as well as the organisation, need to be rebuilt with AI in mind. How HR deliver on enablement needs to change. Also let's not forget, for AI to work and be autonomous it needs data. It needs to be informed about how to work in your organisation. There's a lot to change. That's why I say HR is dead, because we need to rebuild it from the ground up. Not add to what we have.

There's a lot to say and do on this topic and I am knee deep in drawing up a future of work operating model framework for HR. I will be sharing it with the Humans in the Loop community first to get feedback and sense check it - please do join. It's a new online community for any HR professionals who are interested to share and learn on HR tech, AI and the whole messy transformation!

What's happening

1. We released some improved design on the Stakkd HR tech database - go check them out!
2. My Pando Horizons: HR Market Trends webinar is on Wednesday - sign up here
3. First of three Talent Crunch Berlin (TC) sessions with Andreea Lungulescu - sign up here
4. Co hosting TWO(!!) Brainfood Live sessions with Hung Lee: AI Regulations in TA & HR: 2025 Q2 Update and Transitioning to CV Free Hiring
5. I have a Beehiiv newsletter too, where I share other interesting stuff - sign up :)

Top 3 Trending products in the last 2 weeks on Stakkd

1. Humaans: learn more here
2. Mega HR: learn more here
3. Avery: learn more here

End Notes

I am starting to really notice that I miss being in the action. As a founder I talk about about HR, AI and tech. But I don't get to actually get to DO any of it anymore. I'm thinking about adding some fractional and consulting options for organisation that need support to transform their HR - wdyt?

I'd also love to meet in person if any of you are in Berlin then send me a message.

See you on the feed

Jess