Latest Release: 2024 Q1The ZipRecruiter Survey of New Hires
The ZipRecruiter Survey of New Hires is a quarterly survey of U.S. residents who started their current jobs within the past six months. New hires are the leading edge of the labor market—the first to experience changes in the urgency and intensity with which employers are recruiting workers, and the terms of employment on offer. Indicators tracked in this survey—such as how long it took workers to find their jobs, and what share received signing bonuses or healthcare benefits upon hire—can help gauge the quantity and quality of jobs available in the U.S. economy.
Latest Release
Q1 2024
It is taking workers longer to find new jobs, and fewer new hires are receiving signing bonuses, according to ZipRecruiter’s Q1 2024 Survey of New Hires. Nonetheless, the share of workers being actively recruited to their new jobs, and the share receiving counter-offers from their previous employers, are historically high. The high share of new hires negotiating their job offers similarly attests to enduring worker leverage and bargaining power.
Data Spotlight
⇩ 58%
Previous: 60%
described their job search experience as good
⇩ 46%
Previous: 60%
found their jobs in under 1 month
⇩ 23%
Previous: 29%
negotiated their offers
⇧ 43%
Previous: 40%
got recruited
⇧ 46%
Previous: 34%
received a signing bonus
⇧ 24%
Previous: 21%
received a counter-offer from their prior employer
Highlights of the Q1 2024 Survey
Employers Leverage Proactive Recruiting, Counter-Offers to Attract and Retain Workers, Despite Slower Hiring Environment
Recently hired workers surveyed in Q1 2024 took longer to find jobs and were less satisfied with their job search experiences than those surveyed a quarter earlier. Just 46% said they found their new jobs within a month, down sharply from 60% the previous quarter. Only 58% described their job search experience as positive, down from 68% the previous quarter. Their experiences are consistent with the recent slowdown in hiring rates documented by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nonetheless, nearly one in four recent job switchers said that their previous employer tried to prevent them from leaving by countering their new offer and asking them to stay. Despite slower hiring—or perhaps because of it—employers are actively holding onto the workers they’ve got.
Where they are hiring, many businesses are proactively seeking out the talent they want, rather than posting jobs and waiting for candidates to apply. 46% of new hires said they got recruited to their new jobs by the employers, rather than having to search for those jobs themselves, up from 36% a year ago.
Among those businesses that are actively hiring and advertising openings, the race for talent remains intense. 48% of recent hires say their new employer responded to their application within three days, and 92% within about a week. Rapid response times suggest that employers recognize the importance of candidate experience in enhancing their attractiveness as employers.
“When employers proactively recruit talent or respond to applicants quickly, it instills a sense of being valued and sought-after, which can be incredibly affirming and gratifying.”
- Marissa Morrison, ZipRecruiter Vice President, People
How GenAI is Transforming Job Search
Just over 53% of job seekers surveyed in Q1 2024 said they used ChatGPT or a similar generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tool to help them with their job search. That share has more than doubled since we last asked the question in Q2 2023, when only 25% said they had done so. Millennials have been the earliest adopters of GenAI tools, with more than 70% saying they used GenAI in their most recent job search.
Among those who used GenAI in their job search, 23% said they used it to draft a resume, 21% to draft a cover letter, 19% to research career options, 18% to prepare for job interviews, 16% to research pay levels, 14% to complete a pre-hire assignment, 11% to draft correspondence with the employer, and 5% to create a headshot.
Using GenAI on the Job
A similar share of recently hired workers—nearly 53%—say they use GenAI in their new jobs, for a wide range of different purposes. The top three uses are data analysis (listed by 21% of all respondents); drafting content, such as blog posts and product descriptions (18%); and drafting business emails and documents (18%).
“In the year-and-a-half since ChatGPT’s release, GenAI tools have been adopted for job search by more than half of successful job seekers and for daily work tasks by more than half of new hires. Their rapid diffusion suggests that the U.S. is in the early stages of a productivity boom.”
- Julia Pollak, ZipRecruiter Chief Economist
Methodology
The ZipRecruiter Survey of New Hires is a survey fielded to a nationally representative online panel administered by Qualtrics during the second month of every quarter. The sample consists of more than 1,500 adults who reside in the U.S., who are currently employed, and who began their current jobs within the past six months. It excludes self-employed workers.
The survey asks these recently hired workers detailed questions about the circumstances leading up to their employment, the hiring process, the job offer, and the working conditions in their new roles. Additional findings regarding the prevalence and distribution of particular job search experiences and working conditions across the cohort of recent hires, by age, gender, education, and industry, are available upon request. Email press@ziprecruiter.com for more survey data or to schedule an interview with the authors of this study.