- Finding the right skills is the number one challenge facing businesses, as the average time to hire increases to over five weeks
- Candidates are spending 42 minutes on every application, just shy of the 53 minutes they deem ‘too long’
- 45% would give up on a job application if it took up too much of their time
Apply in 10 minutes on a smartphone, have a virtual interview to avoid commuting costs, and speak to an AI chatbot throughout the process. This is how workers prefer to find new jobs today – but complex and drawn-out processes mean businesses could be putting off valuable talent, according to a new report from Totaljobs.
Totaljobs’ latest Hiring Trends Index, surveying 1,000 UK hiring decision-makers and 3,000 workers, found that finding the right candidates with the right skills remains the number one challenge facing businesses (67%).
Just two-thirds (66%) of businesses expressed confidence in being able to hire the skills they need this year, compared to 74% this time last year. The average time to hire has also increased to 5.1 weeks from 4.8 weeks, rising to 5.6 weeks for businesses with 250 or more employees.
Drawn out recruitment slowing down hiring
However, despite evident skills shortages across sectors and company sizes, the research reveals that almost half (49%) of candidates would be put off applying for jobs due to a lack of clarity in descriptions, with 45% giving up on application forms that take too long.
The average time candidates spend on every job application is 42 minutes – just short of the 53 minutes they deem ‘too long’.
Phone, Fast, and Virtual: How candidates want to apply for jobs
With technology, convenience culture and more efficient processes in our personal lives, candidates expect applying for jobs to have become easier, according to the report.
A majority of 3 in 5 (58%) candidates now prefer to apply for jobs on their smartphones, highlighting the importance of businesses making the process as user-friendly as possible. 77 percent say they are more likely to complete an application if it takes less than 10 minutes.
When it comes to interviews, more than half (53%) of candidates said they would be more likely to prioritise going for roles with video interviews to avoid commuting costs. To help streamline the application process, 60% of candidates would also be open to using real-time AI chatbots to complete applications.
Another expectation candidates have is to receive automated updates at every stage of their application (75%), keeping them informed about their progress. Seventy-two percent of candidates expect to hear back about their application within one week or earlier.
Julius Probst, European Labour Economist at Totaljobs said: “If we really want our economy to grow, legacy hiring practices need a full reappraisal. Businesses are missing out on finding the right people because of cumbersome processes that were set up decades ago and haven’t evolved with the habits of workers today. There is a clear willingness to change, with two in five businesses saying hiring can be improved to reduce time to hire and enhance the candidate experience. It’s important to remember that hiring smarter and making applications more streamlined doesn’t mean businesses have to sacrifice quality. Technology, AI, CV databases, and more creative hiring solutions mean recruiters can make headhunting less hard and more effective for everyone involved.”
