75+ Essential Human Resources Statistics [2023]: Figures, Salaries, and Stats

Research Summary. Recruiting professionals earn good money and are in demand, although the current market is candidate-driven. To find out more, our team has gathered the most essential statistics regarding human resources:

• The average corporate job opening attracts 250 resumes.

• 77% of job-seekers go directly to a company’s website to look for jobs.

• 53% of HR professionals agree that employee engagement increases dramatically when onboarding is improved.

• 47% of HR teams report that employee retention and turnover is their biggest challenge.

• While 72% of hiring managers claim to write clear and informative job descriptions, only 36% of job candidates agree with this assessment.

• By 2025, 47% of HR departments in the US are expected to invest in artificial intelligence in some capacity.

• 70% of the global workforce are passive job seekers, while 30% are actively seeking new job opportunities.

• 48% of businesses claim that their best hires come from employee referrals

• According to 86% of recruiters, we’re currently in a candidate-driven market.

For further analysis, we broke down the data in the following ways:
Technology | Hiring | Candidate | Employer/Job Attributes | Onboarding | Hiring Source | Retention and Recognition | Job Search | Diversity | COVID-19

Human Resources Technology Statistics

Technology, especially artificial intelligence, plays an increasingly crucial role in recruiting and human resources, with most businesses planning to implement it within a few years. Yet, despite this trend, the vast majority of HR professionals are not prepared to adapt.

• 80% of U.S. small businesses now use HR software or plan to use it in the next one to two years.

• 6% of companies currently use AI for recruiting to a “high degree,” while 24% responded that they would likely be using AI for recruitment to a high degree by 2023.

• A majority of recruiters (75%) use applicant tracking software to find potential employees, while 79% use social media.

• A majority of employers (97%) plan to increase their investments in recruiting technology.

• During the next few years, 60% of HR departments are expected to invest in predictive analysis, 53% in process automation, and 47% in artificial intelligence.



• Among recruiters, 76% believe that artificial intelligence will play a fundamental role in the coming years.

• Virtual recruitment has become the most used method in the hiring process.

• However, only 16% of HR professionals in the U.S. are prepared to adapt to a virtual recruiting and hiring process.

• Only 37% of human resources managers are confident in their ability to tackle necessary changes and use technology such as artificial intelligence.

• Similarly, two out of three human resources managers agree that the sector is experiencing a digital transformation, although only 40% have a road map to approach this new phase.

Human Resources Hiring Statistics

Employer culture and candidate experiences are important aspects for prospective employees, although employers often fall short. Candidates also seek solid work-life balance, interview and performance feedback, adequate compensation, and professional development opportunities. Otherwise, they’ll choose an employer that more closely meets these needs.

• On average, each corporate job offer attracts 250 resumes.

• Each employee vacancy costs the average company $500 a day.

• A negative review of a company on Glassdoor leads to over 50% of candidates deciding against accepting an offer.

• Almost 30% of new hires resign in the first three months of employment.

• 84% of recruiters have reported that culture fit has become a key factor when hiring.

• Still, 61% of new hires do not get any training on company culture.

• 94% of talent wants to receive interview feedback, but only 41% have received interview feedback before.

• Talent is 4x more likely to consider your company for future opportunities when you offer them constructive feedback.

• The median pay for an HR specialist was $62,290 per year in 2021, while the wage for human resources managers was $126,230.

• Demand for recruiting professionals has jumped by 63% since 2016, a trend that’s expected to continue.

Human Resources Candidate Statistics

• 83% of employers believe attracting and retaining talent is a growing challenge.

• Companies that invest in the candidate experience improve the quality of new recruits by 70%.

• However, only 22% of human resources managers believe they have created a unique hiring experience.

• Employer branding has a significant impact on the talent selection process, according to 75% of industry professionals.

• Half of all job seekers have had a negative experience during a hiring process, and 50% of respondents had declined a job offer due to a poor experience.

• Candidates say clear and regular communication (58%), clear expectations (53%), and feedback regarding rejection (51%) are the most important factors for a positive application experience.

Human Resources Statistics by Employer/Job Attributes

• The top employer attributes that jobseekers value most are salary and employee benefits, long-term job security, and a pleasant working atmosphere.

• The most important factors in accepting a new job are compensation (49%), professional development (33%), and better work/life balance (29%).



• 89% of talent says being contacted by their recruiter can make them accept a job offer faster.

• 52% of surveyed candidates claim competitive compensation packages are the most attractive element of a job.

Employee Onboarding Statistics

• Only about one in ten employees strongly agree their organization does an excellent job of onboarding new employees.

• Negative onboarding experiences make new hires 2x as likely to look for other opportunities.

• 53% of HR professionals believe employee engagement increases when onboarding is improved.

Hiring Source Statistics

• Building an employer brand and company culture helps companies increase qualified candidates (49%), increase diverse candidates (32%), increase employee referrals (41%), and hire the right people (55%).

  

• Companies can expand their talent pool by 10x by recruiting through their employees’ networks.

• Employee referrals are a top source of quality hires along with social networks and internet job boards.

• Social professional networks are the #1 source of quality hires, followed by internet job boards and employee referrals.

• 48% of businesses say their top-quality hires come from employee referrals.

• 35% of employees refer to help their friends, 32% do it to help their company, 26% do it to be seen as a valuable colleague, while only 6% do it for money and recognition.

Human Resources Employee Retention and Recognition Statistics

While employee retention and turnover remain a top concern for human resources departments, most employees seek jobs elsewhere due to lack of career development, no work-life balance, and insufficient engagement.

• 47% of HR leaders cite employee retention and turnover as their top workforce management challenge, followed by recruitment and corporate culture management.

• Great onboarding processes can improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%.

• The #1 reason people change jobs is career opportunity.

• The top reasons given by employees for leaving their jobs include lack of career development (22%), lack of support with work-life balance (12%), their manager’s behavior (11%), unsatisfactory compensation and benefits (9%), and poor well-being (9%).



• 46% of HR leaders say employee burnout is the reason for up to 50% of their annual workforce turnover.

• 51% of employers say using health and wellness benefits to maintain employee loyalty and retain talent will become even more important in the next three to five years.

• 66% of employees will first look to see if there is an open position of interest at their current company before looking elsewhere.

• 87% of employees want employers to help them maintain a work-life balance.

• The majority (81%) of working parents would rather have a work-life balance than receive higher pay.

• 89% of HR leaders surveyed agree that ongoing peer feedback and check-ins positively impact their organizations.

• 84% of HR professionals agree that recognizing employees increases engagement, and 82% agree that it boosts employee happiness and staff availability.

• Just 34% of HR leaders invest in workforce learning and reskilling as part of their future work strategy.

• 40% of HR leaders are not aware of the skills their workforce possesses.

Human Resources Job Search Statistics

Most job seekers are passive (i.e., they’re not actively looking for jobs, but they’re interested if something comes their way). For those who are active, referrals, job boards, social media, and word-of-mouth are the most common ways to discover new employment opportunities.

• 70% of the global workforce comprises passive talent who aren’t actively job searching, and the remaining 30% are active job seekers.

• 87% of active and passive candidates are open to new job opportunities.

• The top channels people use to look for new jobs are online job boards (60%), social professional networks (56%), and word of mouth (50%).

• The #1 way people discover a new job is through a referral.

• The top keyword search from candidates on Monster over the last few months continues to be “work from home.”

Human Resources Diversity Statistics

Employers that value workplace diversity typically have higher than average financial returns, as well as happier, more engaged employees.

• 78% of companies have made it an initiative to hire diversely.

• Companies that acquire a diverse workforce are 15-35% more likely to have higher than average financial returns, while those without diversity lag behind.

• More than four in five (86%) candidates globally say diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace is important to them.

• Additional research found that 62% of people would go as far as turning down a job offer if it came from a culture that didn’t support a diverse workforce.

Human Resources COVID-19-Related Statistics

COVID-19 continues to significantly impact external employment options, although internal mobility has seen a significant boost over the past year. In addition, many companies have learned that employees work well in remote scenarios, which isn’t going away anytime soon.

• As of January 2023, the unemployment rate is 3.4%, and the number of unemployed persons is 5.7 million.

• Internal mobility is up 20% since the onset of COVID-19.

• Due to COVID-19, there has been a 135% rise in remote job offerings.

• Job interviews are largely conducted virtually, a trend that’s expected to continue even after the pandemic is over.

• 64.7% of IT professionals are worried about losing their job during the coronavirus pandemic.

• Young workers are the most affected by pandemic-related unemployment. The unemployment rate of young workers ages 16-24 jumped from 8.4% to 24.4% from spring 2019 to spring 2020.

• During the early days of the pandemic, employees were reluctant to change jobs resulting in a 47% drop in applications across all industries.

• To a large extent, managing a remote workforce due to the pandemic has been successful.

• 58% of candidates feel their job search expectations have shifted during the pandemic, and projections for 2021 indicate further change ahead.

• In April 2021, 9.4 million persons reported that they could not work because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic.

• Among those not in the labor force in April, 2.8 million persons were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic.

Human Resources Industry Statistics FAQ

1. Is human resources a growing or shrinking field?

   Human resources is a growing field. Projections from the BLS estimate that job openings in HR will grow by about 8% from 2021-2031, which is faster than the average across all occupations.

2. Is human resources a stressful field?

   Yes, human resources tends to be a stressful field. Tight deadlines are a never-ending feature of most HR jobs, as well as a constant balancing act between employee advocacy and executing corporate strategies.

   Coupled with the continuous need to interview, hire, onboard, train, and fire candidates and employees — a high-pressure position with significant stakes — and it’s fair to say that HR professionals have a fair amount of stress in their lives.

3. Do HR jobs pay well?

   Yes, HR jobs pay well in general. Human resources specialists earned a median annual salary of $63,490 in 2020, and other HR jobs can pay much more than that. The long-running joke is that HR jobs ought to be well-paid since it’s the department that’s responsible for setting corporate pay-rates.

4. How will HR change in the next 5 years?

   Over the next 5 years HR will continue to integrate more technology. For example, new technologies may allow for a focus on real-time performance reviews. Additionally, HR will likely to continue putting emphasis on diverse hiring practices, as diversity in the workplace has proven to be effective.

5. Is there a high demand for HR?

   Yes, there is a high demand for HR. The BLS estimates that the number of human resource specialist jobs will grow by 8% from 2021 to 2031. This is faster than the overall average job growth rate and would result in about 58,800 more HR specialist jobs.

   In addition, the BLS estimates a job growth rate of 7% over the same decade for human resources managers, which is as fast as average.

References

1. RisePeople.com. Read ‘Em and Share: 25 Fascinating HR Statistics. Accessed 5/24/21.

2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Human Resources Managers. Accessed 2/14/23.

3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Human Resources Specialists. Accessed 2/14/23.

4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Employment Situation — April 2021. Accessed 5/24/21.

5. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Employment Situation – January 2023. Accessed 2/14/23.

6. Kenjo Blog. 30 Human Resources Statistics. Accessed 5/24/21.

7. Paycor.com. HR Statistics You Need to Know for 2020. Accessed 5/24/21.

8. Shortlister.com. 80 Key Recruiting Statistics for Hiring Managers. Accessed 5/24/21.

9. LinkedIn Business. The Ultimate List of Hiring Statistics For Hiring Managers, HR Professionals, and Recruiters. Accessed 5/24/21.

10. HR Cloud. 8 Recruitment Stats You Need to Know. Accessed 5/24/21.

11. SHRM.org. 2021 Recruiting Trends Shaped by COVID-19. Accessed 5/24/21.

12. Finances Online. 101 Hiring Statistics You Must Read. Accessed 5/24/21.

13. Monster Hiring. 2021 Hiring Trends: Monster’s Predictions for the New Year. Accessed 5/24/21.

14. ZoomShift.com. 50 HR Statistics to Boost Hiring and Retention in 2021. Accessed 5/24/21.

15. PwC. PwC’s HR Technology Survey 2020. Accessed 1/25/22.

16. Work Institute. 2019 Retention Report. Accessed 1/25/22.

17. Kronos. New Hire Momentum: Driving the Onboarding Experience. Accessed 1/25/22.

18. HR Dive. Survey: Applicant quality continues to plague employers. Accessed 1/25/22.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.