Recruitics Talent Market Index: Hiring Competition Eases in February, Creating Opportunities for Employers
Year-Over-Year Price Increases Remain Significant, Highlighting the Importance of Agile Hiring Strategies
Recruitics, a leader in recruitment marketing and AI-driven analytics, today released its latest Talent Market Index, offering valuable insights into hiring prices and labor market dynamics. The February report reflects a labor market in flux, shaped by seasonal hiring trends pushing down talent acquisition prices on a month-over-month basis, but persistently high prices year-over-year. While the data indicates longer-term labor market challenges are likely to persist due to ongoing labor shortages, there is an opportunity for businesses to hire more affordably across sectors compared to January.
Despite month-over-month declines across all sectors tracked, year-over-year talent attraction prices continue to surge, signaling increased competition for talent amid ongoing hiring headwinds. Employers in healthcare, IT, and finance face a tight labor market with elevated hiring prices due to competition for talent with highly specialized skills. Seasonal changes in demand are likely driving declines in sectors like food services, sales, and transportation & logistics, where hiring has tapered off following an end-of-year recruitment boom. What remains uncertain is how factors such as changes in the federal workforce, increased competition in specific sectors, and potential tariff impacts will influence hiring trends in the coming months – suggesting the potential for further movement and labor market corrections ahead.
"February revealed new trends across key sectors as employers face declining recruitment prices in the short-term," said Adam Stafford, CEO of Recruitics. "For businesses that took a wait-and-see approach, these talent acquisition price drops could present a strategic hiring window. That said, many sectors continue to see prices that are significantly higher year-over-year due to heightened competition for talent and ongoing labor shortages in high-demand fields like healthcare and IT.
What isn't fully reflected in this data is how recent macro shifts – such as federal workforce changes, industry-specific disruptions, and potential trade policies – could further disrupt hiring demand and potentially lead to continued declining talent acquisition prices. This reinforces why it's more critical than ever to monitor and optimize recruitment strategies to account for economic shifts and trends in the labor market."
Key Sector Highlights:
Across industries, month-over-month talent acquisition prices decreased, but prices still remained significantly elevated compared to this time last year. Transportation & Logistics and Light Industrial sectors particularly exemplified this dynamic with the highest month-over-month decreases in prices. As e-commerce and global trade drive logistical needs, businesses that act now may benefit from lower competition before prices rise again.
- Transportation & Logistics: The transportation and logistics sector had a 27% month-over-month decline in talent attraction prices. However, prices remain 80% higher year-over-year, reflecting sustained demand for efficient supply chain management and delivery roles.
- Light Industrial: Amid shifting immigration policies, reshoring efforts, and supply chain adjustments, hiring prices dropped 18.67% month-over-month and stayed 90.63% higher year-over-year. While employers may find near-term relief, ongoing labor shortages and rising demand for domestic manufacturing signal continued competition for skilled workers.
- Retail: Experienced a 9.09% month-over-month decline but a 288.89% year-over-year surge in talent attraction prices, reflecting a shift in hiring focus towards key locations or specialized roles.
- IT & Related Roles: Hiring prices declined 6.38% month-over-month but rose +214% year-over-year, driven by investments in emerging skillsets like AI and automation.
- Finance & Operations: Saw a 6.32% month-over-month decline but a 97.78% year-over-year increase in talent attraction prices, reflecting a shift towards highly specialized talent.
- Healthcare: Job growth continued, with a 1.65% month-over-month decline but a 141% year-over-year increase in talent attraction prices, underscoring persistent demand for medical professionals.
- Food Services: The only segment with a decline in talent attraction prices both month-over-month (-22.22%) and year-over-year (-24.62%), influenced by strike activity and rising unemployment.
For a LinkedIn Live session recording where Chief Executive Officer Adam Stafford and Chief Strategy Officer Mona Tawakali explore the findings in more detail, please visit the LinkedIn Live Talent Market Index March Release event page.
The Recruitics Talent Market Index aggregates billions of data points from job advertisements and proprietary Recruitics data, tracking key metrics such as Cost per Click (CPC) and Cost per Application (CPA) across diverse job categories each month. By providing unique insights into how these metrics drive recruitment trends, the Talent Market Index complements traditional labor market indicators like the Bureau of Labor Statistics' jobs report and ADP payroll data.
Click for more information and access to the full report: Talent Market Index Report March Release
—-
About Recruitics
Recruitics delivered the first programmatic job advertising solution and continues to pioneer category-defining technology for end-to-end talent attraction, conversion, and analytics. Recruitics puts AI-powered tools and data into the hands of industry-leading strategists to improve hiring outcomes for talent acquisition teams worldwide. With a best-in-class platform and a commitment to continuous innovation, Recruitics makes it easy for the world's leading companies to attract and hire exceptional talent.
To learn more, contact us or write to info@recruitics.com.
Follow Recruitics on Social Media:
