2025
Hiring
Insights
Report
How 500+ talent leaders redefine
hiring with AI and innovation
Introduction
Partnering with over 500 talent acquisition (TA) leaders, our fourth annual Hiring Insights Report uncovers a stark reality: talent acquisition teams across industries are navigating a complex landscape defined by persistent bottlenecks, shrinking resources, and rising candidate expectations.
Amid these challenges, one truth stands out: the organizations thriving in 2025 are those that embrace innovation and bold new strategies. Whether it’s leveraging automation to save time, reducing bottlenecks with smarter tools, or personalizing every candidate interaction, these leaders prove that hiring can be faster, more efficient, and deeply human.
This report provides not just data, but actionable insights—best practices you can implement to improve your hiring processes and set your team apart in an increasingly competitive market. It’s a blueprint for reimagining what’s possible in talent acquisition.
So I invite you to dive into these insights, take inspiration from the strategies of top TA leaders, and join us in redefining the future of hiring together.
Ahryun Moon
CEO and Co-Founder
GoodTime
Table of contents
SECTION ONE
2024’s hiring challenges and lessons learned
SECTION TWO
Winning top talent in 2025
SECTION THREE
What top-performing TA teams do differently
SECTION FOUR
Enterprise in focus
SECTION SIX
Final thoughts & appendix
Executive summary
Key findings
AI adoption is surging, with 93% of TA leaders planning additional technology investments in 2025
The top bottleneck slowing down the hiring process was interview cancellations and reschedules
64% of TA teams grew their headcount in the last 12 months
60% of organizations saw time-to-hire increase in 2024.
Compared to everyone else, top-performing TA teams* were:
55%
more likely to focus on improving the candidate experience.
35%
more likely to focus on decreasing time-to-schedule.
25%
more likely to use AI to make hiring more efficient.
Takeaways for decision-makers
Invest thoughtfully in AI and automation:
Streamline workflows and reduce manual tasks to improve hiring efficiency.
Address time-to-hire bottlenecks:
Use AI to automate scheduling and communications to reduce hiring delays.
Prioritize candidate experience:
Personalization and transparency will attract and retain top talent in a competitive market.
Support recruiters with tools and training:
Equip teams to manage workloads effectively and reduce burnout.
Balance speed with quality:
Ensure hiring efficiency doesn’t come at the cost of quality-of-hire and retention.
Focus on the right metrics:
Track key metrics like time-to-hire, candidate satisfaction, and offer acceptance rates.
About this report
This report was developed with scientific rigor in partnership with Qualtrics, based on a set of research questions identified by subject matter experts as relevant to emerging trends in the current hiring landscape. More information on the survey methodology can be found in the appendix of this report.
