“The process of hiring employees should start with a candidate’s first contact with an employer. Whether job seekers are visiting a company’s career site, engaging on social media or working through their application process, every touch point matters.

In today’s job market where employers are hyper-focused on attracting and eventually retaining top talent, it’s more important than ever to reevaluate the early stages of your candidate experience,” said Neil Costa, Founder and CEO at HireClix. “This data further demonstrates the opportunity for employers to focus on the basics by developing a clear employee value proposition, strengthening their employer brand presence and creating a positive career site experience in the face of an evolving and competitive job

Survey Highlights

Job Search

• Consumers are leveraging key sites for job searching including Indeed (58%), LinkedIn (48%), Google (39%), ZipRecruiter (31%), and also directly viewing company career sites (29%).
  • This is on par with last year’s results wherein Indeed (58%) and Google (39%) saw the same utilization levels as 2023.
  • LinkedIn saw a slight bump in utilization, going from 40% to 48% in the most recent survey.
• Job seekers were equally likely to use mobile phones (65%) and computers (62%) when searching for a job, while tablet usage (22%) lagged behind.
• As expected, long job application processes are deterring 35% of job seekers, cutting an already slim talent pool by over a third.

Job Market Trends

• Skills-based hiring
  • While 58% of people believe their resume is essential for demonstrating their skills, there is a growing desire among the workforce to move away from prioritizing resumes
    • 23% of people don’t think their resume accurately demonstrates their skills in the best way.
  • 48% of consumers wish employers would stop prioritizing resumes and focus on skills during the hiring process.
• Dating Apps
  • As recruiters start to explore ways to leverage dating apps, users are not welcoming them with open arms. 46% of consumers say dating apps aren’t for job seeking. 21% go so far to say that if they saw a networking/job ad on a dating app, it would negatively impact their perception of the employer’s brand.
    • Women are more likely than men to disapprove of job seeking on dating apps – as 34% of men are open to leveraging dating apps for job seeking, compared to 22% of women.
    • Overall, 28% of people think dating apps could double as job search platforms and would be open to receiving networking and job search opportunities.
• Social media’s impact on the ability to get a job
  • 33% of consumers agree that their social media could negatively impact their ability to get a job.
  • 37% say it would not impact their job search because their channels are private.
  • 19% said they don’t think employers are looking at their social media profiles.

Employee Decision to Stay or Leave

• 51% of people are planning to stay in their current positions, down from 57% last year, whereas 20% want to leave their current job for a new opportunity.
• Similar to last year, the biggest factors influencing whether an employee stays or leaves their current job are enjoyment of work, compensation, and work-life balance.
  • When thinking about their current job, the reasons people wanted to stay were:
    • 70% said they enjoy the work they do.
    • 40% said they are paid competitively.
    • 45% said they have a good work-life balance.
  • When thinking about their current job, the reasons people wanted to leave were:
    • 50% said they no longer enjoy the work they do.
    • 42% said they were disappointed in an insufficient bonus/raise.
    • 38% said there was no opportunity for growth or development.
    • 36% said a negative change to work-life balance.

As the labor market continues to evolve, showcasing a strong employer brand and creating an easy-to-use career site is critical to recruiting and retaining top talent. Shifting consumer attitudes are requiring employers to think strategically and creatively about how to best engage candidates on their preferred turf and terms.

The survey findings are based upon data collected from a representative consumer survey capturing 1,000 respondents ranging from ages 18 to 65+ across the United States.