iHire has released its 2025 State of Online Recruiting Report, highlighting the explosion of AI in hiring, the future of job boards, strategies for overcoming ongoing talent shortages, and more. The seventh annual research report, which analyzes the results of a survey of 1,421 job seekers and 529 employers across the United States and from 57 industries, is available here: www.iHire.com/SOOR25.
Key survey findings detailed in the report include the following:
AI adoption by employers has increased by 428.7% since 2023.
25.9% of employers said they are currently using AI in their recruitment efforts, compared to 14.7% in 2024’s State of Online Recruiting Survey and 4.9% in 2023’s.
The most popular AI use cases were writing job ads (73.0%), composing messages (emails, texts, etc.) to candidates (68.6%), sending messages to candidates (49.6%), and screening resumes (32.1%).
However, some employers remain apprehensive about AI, with 24.4% expressing concern about fake or fraudulent candidates.
Job boards that evolve to meet users’ needs will continue to be critical for connecting employers and candidates.
68.6% of employers said they conduct “all” or “most” of their hiring through job boards, and 31.9% expect their reliance on job boards to increase in the coming year.
Employers want job boards to offer solutions aside from job postings, including messaging tools to communicate with candidates (email: 47.1%, text: 34.6%), prescreening questions (44.6%), skills assessments (28.4%), interview scheduling features (26.3%), talent pipelining capabilities (25.5%), and more.
Hiring professionals also value job boards that offer AI-powered functionalities for messaging candidates (31.8%), creating/optimizing job ads (29.3%), and screening resumes (27.0%).
Employers are turning to alternative talent sources due to downturns in the labor market and widening skills gaps.
When asked which trends they expect to impact hiring in the coming year, 54.8% of employers cited skills gaps and 31.8% pointed to economic uncertainty and recession fears.
As a result, organizations are filling roles, closing talent gaps, and treading cautiously in the wake of a slowing labor market by embracing alternative, innovative hiring strategies. Specifically, in the past year:
42.3% of employers hired from within or promoted a current employee versus hiring an external candidate (up from 16.9% who said the same in 2024 – a 150% year-over-year increase).
36.9% tapped into their talent pipeline.
30.8% rehiring former staff/”boomerang” employees.
27.8% upskilled/reskilled existing staff.
“Employers and job seekers are navigating a fast-evolving recruitment landscape, where AI is reshaping how connections are made,” said Steve Flook, iHire’s President and CEO. “At the same time, the job board and online recruiting space has been undergoing some turbulence, and platforms like iHire that are continually adapting to user needs and pivoting quickly are best positioned to grab greater market share. Our annual report showcases these industry changes and offers data-driven advice for optimizing online recruitment and turning to innovative strategies and channels to fill in gaps.”
Additional notable statistics uncovered by iHire’s survey include:
59.0% of candidates said ghosting – applying for jobs and not hearing back from employers – was a top job search challenge, followed by too many fake, fraudulent, or “ghost” jobs (39.3%).
19.5% of employers expect to see an increase in skills-based hiring and a decreased focus on traditional degrees as candidate requirements in the next year.
28.1% of candidates cited ageism as a job search challenge; 48.2% anticipated age discrimination hindering their job search or career growth in the coming year.
29.3% of job seekers have used AI to write or customize their resume and/or cover letter, up from 17.3% who said the same in 2024’s survey.
71.3% of companies regularly lean on referrals from current employees to fill roles.
Read iHire’s 2025 State of Online Recruiting Report here: www.iHire.com/SOOR25.
Research Methodology
iHire surveyed 1,421 job seekers and 529 employers across the U.S. and from 57 industries in July 2025 via the Qualtrics XM platform. Respondents came from iHire’s job seeker and employer databases. All decimal points are rounded to the nearest tenth. For many questions, multiple answers could be selected, so percentages add up to a sum greater than 100%. In some instances, survey questions were skipped by an individual respondent.
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