Motivated by higher wages, increased benefits and remote work opportunities, the labor force expanded by 2.5 million workers in 2022, according to Appcast’s “Recruitment Marketing Benchmark Report,” released today. Analyzing the macroeconomics of the labor market and key recruitment metrics, the report found that while recruiting was difficult, acquiring new applications and candidates was more cost-effective in 2022.
“There are glimmers of hope, especially when looking at decreased recruiting costs, but 2023 will be another year of uphill struggles for recruiters working to attract and retain employees in this highly-competitive labor market,” said Heather Salerno, chief marketing officer at Appcast.
The report also found that cost-per-application — an important recruiting benchmark — declined in 2022. Employers paid $25.14 per application in December 2022, down nearly 22% from the same period in the previous year.
In addition, the average cost-per-click for a job ad ended its skyrocketing trajectory and leveled off last year. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the median CPC averaged $1.07 compared to $1.10 in the same period in 2021, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the apply rate, which is the number of people who complete a job application after clicking on a job ad, increased. The median apply rate increased to 4.34% from 4.05% in the previous year.
Appcast’s report examined 2022 job ad data from nearly 1,200 employers in the US; findings are based on an analysis of over 255 million job ad clicks and 12 million applications.