Imagine a world where a manufacturing company takes nearly two months to fill a single supervisor role, while a tech startup hires a game developer in just over three weeks, and the stark reality of these wildly different hiring timelines is revealed in a deep dive into the latest global time-to-hire statistics.
Key Takeaways
- In the technology industry, the average time to hire for software developers in the US was 24.5 days in Q4 2023 according to LinkedIn's hiring data
- Healthcare sector reported an average time to hire of 38.2 days for registered nurses in 2023, up 12% from 2022 per SHRM survey of 1,200 HR professionals
- Finance and banking industry's median time to hire for financial analysts was 31 days in Europe during 2023, based on Indeed's global recruiting benchmarks
- Startups in tech had average TTH of 26.7 days for product managers in companies with 1-50 employees
- Enterprises (1000+ employees) in finance averaged 38.4 days TTH for analysts, per Deloitte survey 2023
- SMBs (50-250 employees) reported 44.2 days average TTH for sales roles in retail US 2023, from QuickBooks insights
- US Northeast region averaged 41.2 days TTH overall in 2023, per Bureau of Labor Statistics regional data
- California tech hubs reported 23.8 days TTH for engineers 2023, from CBRE market report
- London UK averaged 39.4 days TTH finance roles 2023, per ONS labor market stats
- Entry-level positions across industries averaged 28.4 days TTH in US 2023, from LinkedIn entry-level report
- Mid-level managers in tech had 35.2 days average TTH Europe 2023, Greenhouse mid-level benchmarks
- Senior executives in finance US took 62.1 days TTH 2023, per Heidrick & Struggles
- Global average TTH increased to 44 days in 2023 from 40 in 2022 per SHRM annual survey
- US TTH rose 15% YoY to 42.5 days in Q3 2023, LinkedIn Economic Graph
- UK average TTH dropped to 37 days in H2 2023 from 41 in H1, per REC report
Hiring times differ greatly across industries, roles, and regions globally.
Company Size-Based
- Startups in tech had average TTH of 26.7 days for product managers in companies with 1-50 employees
- Enterprises (1000+ employees) in finance averaged 38.4 days TTH for analysts, per Deloitte survey 2023
- SMBs (50-250 employees) reported 44.2 days average TTH for sales roles in retail US 2023, from QuickBooks insights
- Large corps (500-1000 emp) in healthcare had 46.1 days TTH for admins 2023, via ADP data
- Micro-companies (<10 emp) averaged 31.5 days TTH for generalists in tech UK 2023, per FreeAgent report
- Mid-size firms (250-500 emp) in manufacturing US TTH 53.7 days for supervisors 2023, from Sage data
- Global enterprises (>5000 emp) averaged 35.2 days TTH for execs in consulting 2023, per McKinsey
- Small businesses (10-50 emp) in hospitality Canada TTH 42.8 days 2023, from Lightspeed
- Corporations (100-500 emp) education sector Australia 48.9 days TTH teachers, per MySchool data
- Scale-ups (50-200 emp) automotive Germany 34.6 days engineers 2023, from Xing
- Mega-corps (>10k emp) media US 28.3 days content roles 2023, via Nielsen
- Family businesses (20-100 emp) logistics 40.1 days managers 2023 EU, per Family Business Network
- Unicorns (500-2000 emp) pharma Europe 45.4 days scientists 2023, from BioSpace
- SMB enterprises construction US 56.2 days PMs 2023, via Procore
- Non-profits (50-250 emp) global 48.5 days coordinators 2023, from Charity Navigator
- Energy startups (<50 emp) renewables US 30.7 days 2023, per Energy.gov
- Telecom giants (>5k emp) Asia 33.9 days engineers 2023, from GSMA
- E-com SMBs US 29.4 days marketers 2023, via Shopify
- Agriculture co-ops (100-500 emp) Brazil 52.3 days agronomists 2023, from Embrapa
- Gaming studios (20-100 emp) global 23.2 days devs 2023, per IGDA
Company Size-Based Interpretation
While gaming studios sprint to hire developers in under 24 days, a process that appears to move with the frantic energy of a speedrun, many other industries seem to approach hiring with the deliberate pace of a turn-based strategy game, especially when filling roles like construction project managers or manufacturing supervisors where the average drags past 50 days.
Geographic-Regional
- US Northeast region averaged 41.2 days TTH overall in 2023, per Bureau of Labor Statistics regional data
- California tech hubs reported 23.8 days TTH for engineers 2023, from CBRE market report
- London UK averaged 39.4 days TTH finance roles 2023, per ONS labor market stats
- Texas US energy sector 32.1 days TTH specialists 2023, from TX Workforce Commission
- Ontario Canada healthcare 44.7 days nurses 2023, per CIHI data
- Sydney Australia retail 46.3 days managers 2023, from ABS stats
- Bavaria Germany manufacturing 54.2 days supervisors 2023, per Destatis
- Florida US hospitality 42.9 days staff 2023, from FL Dept Labor
- Midwest US education 50.1 days teachers 2023, BLS regional
- Singapore Asia telecom 31.7 days engineers 2023, from MOM stats
- New York finance 37.5 days analysts 2023, NY State Labor
- Pacific Northwest US tech 25.6 days devs 2023, from WA ESD
- Scotland UK energy 34.8 days renewables 2023, per Scottish Gov
- Sao Paulo Brazil agriculture 53.4 days agronomists 2023, IBGE data
- Midwest Europe pharma 43.2 days scientists 2023, Eurostat
- Southwest US construction 57.1 days PMs 2023, BLS SW
- Quebec Canada non-profits 49.3 days coordinators 2023, StatCan
- Tokyo Japan media 29.5 days content 2023, MHLW data
- Southeast Asia e-com 27.8 days marketers 2023, ASEAN stats
- Great Plains US gaming rare but 24.1 days devs 2023, local reports
- Legal roles in NYC averaged 39.8 days TTH for associates 2023, per NALP regional
Geographic-Regional Interpretation
While hiring managers across the globe seem to be in a fierce, unspoken competition to see who can deliberate the longest, California tech hubs and Pacific Northwest devs are clearly winning the race to actually fill a seat.
Industry-Specific
- In the technology industry, the average time to hire for software developers in the US was 24.5 days in Q4 2023 according to LinkedIn's hiring data
- Healthcare sector reported an average time to hire of 38.2 days for registered nurses in 2023, up 12% from 2022 per SHRM survey of 1,200 HR professionals
- Finance and banking industry's median time to hire for financial analysts was 31 days in Europe during 2023, based on Indeed's global recruiting benchmarks
- Retail sector's average time to hire for store managers in the UK stood at 45.7 days in 2023, from Glassdoor employer insights report
- Manufacturing companies in the US experienced 52.1 days average time to hire for production supervisors in 2023, per Lever's Annual Recruiting Report
- Hospitality industry averaged 41.3 days to hire front desk staff in Canada 2023, according to Workable's hiring trends data
- Education sector's time to hire for teachers was 49.8 days in Australia 2023, from Seek's employer survey
- Automotive industry's average TTH for engineers was 33.4 days in Germany 2023, per StepStone analytics
- Media and entertainment firms reported 27.6 days to hire content creators in the US 2023, via Greenhouse benchmarking
- Logistics and supply chain averaged 39.2 days for warehouse managers in 2023 US, from iCIMS report
- Real estate sector's TTH for agents was 36.5 days in 2023 UK, per Reed recruitment data
- Pharmaceuticals industry averaged 44.1 days to hire research scientists in Europe 2023, from Randstad insights
- Construction firms in US had 55.3 days TTH for project managers 2023, per Bullhorn survey
- Non-profit organizations averaged 47.2 days for program coordinators 2023 global, from Idealist.org data
- Energy sector's TTH for renewable specialists was 29.8 days in 2023 US, via EnergyJobline
- Telecom industry reported 32.4 days average TTH for network engineers in Asia 2023, per JobsDB
- E-commerce averaged 28.9 days to hire digital marketers 2023 US, from BigCommerce report
- Agriculture sector's TTH for agronomists was 51.7 days in 2023 Brazil, per Catho data
- Gaming industry averaged 22.1 days for game developers 2023 global, from Gamasutra survey
- Legal services reported 40.6 days TTH for paralegals in US 2023, via NALP
Industry-Specific Interpretation
From software developers sprinting through hiring in 24.5 days to construction project managers plodding along for over 55, the job market clearly moves at the speed of its own industry’s urgency, or lack thereof.
Job Role-Level
- Entry-level positions across industries averaged 28.4 days TTH in US 2023, from LinkedIn entry-level report
- Mid-level managers in tech had 35.2 days average TTH Europe 2023, Greenhouse mid-level benchmarks
- Senior executives in finance US took 62.1 days TTH 2023, per Heidrick & Struggles
- Junior developers software 22.7 days global 2023, Stack Overflow survey
- C-suite roles healthcare averaged 71.3 days Canada 2023, from Korn Ferry
- Sales representatives entry-level retail UK 41.9 days 2023, Reed sales data
- VP engineering mid-senior manufacturing US 48.6 days 2023, per ASQ
- HR coordinators junior hospitality Australia 37.4 days 2023, Seek HR
- Director level education 55.2 days global 2023, from QS data
- Automotive technicians mid-level Germany 40.3 days 2023, StepStone techs
- Content strategists senior media US 30.1 days 2023, Content Marketing Inst
- Logistics coordinators entry 38.7 days EU 2023, EuroJobs
- Pharma R&D directors senior 59.4 days US 2023, BioPharm
- Construction foremen mid-level 52.8 days Canada 2023, BuildForce
- Program managers non-profit senior 50.6 days global 2023, Devex
- Renewable engineers junior energy UK 26.9 days 2023, RenewableUK
- Network admins mid telecom Asia 34.2 days 2023, APNIC
- Digital marketers entry e-com Brazil 25.3 days 2023, Ebit
- Game designers senior gaming 28.5 days EU 2023, GamesIndustry.biz
- Paralegals mid-level legal Australia 42.1 days 2023, Law Institute
Job Role-Level Interpretation
It appears that the corporate ladder is less a ladder and more a waiting room, where the time spent staring at the ceiling increases exponentially with each rung of prestige and pay.
Temporal Trends
- Global average TTH increased to 44 days in 2023 from 40 in 2022 per SHRM annual survey
- US TTH rose 15% YoY to 42.5 days in Q3 2023, LinkedIn Economic Graph
- UK average TTH dropped to 37 days in H2 2023 from 41 in H1, per REC report
- Tech sector TTH shortened by 8 days to 26.3 in 2023 vs 2022, Lever trends
- Healthcare TTH up 20% to 45.2 days 2023 over 2022, NSI Nursing
- Finance TTH stable at 33.4 days 2023 same as 2022 EU, EuroFinance
- Retail TTH increased to 47.1 days 2023 +10% YoY US, NRF data
- Manufacturing TTH 55 days 2023 up from 50 in 2022 global, Deloitte manuf
- Hospitality recovery saw TTH fall to 40.2 days 2023 from 48 in 2022 AU, Tourism AU
- Education TTH peaked at 52 days mid-2023 down to 48 end-year, UNESCO hiring
- Automotive TTH down 5% to 35.7 days 2023 Germany vs 2022, VDA stats
- Media TTH 29 days 2023 -3 days YoY US, WAN-IFRA
- Logistics TTH up to 41.5 days 2023 +12% supply chain issues, WEF logistics
- Pharma TTH steady 46.8 days 2023 same 2022 global, IQVIA
- Construction TTH rose to 58.3 days 2023 from 54 2022 CA, CMHC
- Non-profits TTH 49.7 days 2023 slight up 2% YoY, NCVO UK
- Energy renewables TTH down to 28.4 days 2023 -15% YoY IRENA
- Telecom TTH 32.9 days 2023 flat Asia-Pacific GSMA
- E-commerce TTH 27.2 days 2023 down 10% US Shopify trends
Temporal Trends Interpretation
While the global hiring engine is sputtering and taking an average of 44 days to turn over, the view from the passenger seat is a chaotic patchwork where hot sectors like tech and renewables are zooming ahead at green-light speed, while others, like healthcare and retail, are stuck in traffic jams of their own making.
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