86 HR stats you need to know this year to build a better workplace
If one thing’s for certain in HR, it’s that nothing stays the same.
Yesterday’s problem could be today’s solution. This year’s disaster could be next year’s greatest triumph.
And that’s why it’s important to keep your eye on the baseline. To help, we’ve pulled together 86 HR stats that will help you understand the state of the HR profession.
How HR stats can help
These stats also might help you commiserate, celebrate or contemplate where your team is and where it’s headed in 2024.
We cover the most important topics to HR leaders these days: Talent acquisition. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Employee well-being. Remote work and hybrid models. Technology and automation. Compensation and benefits. Company culture.
We’ve only included studies, research and data gathered in 2023 or early 2024 so you have the most up-to-date stats. Even better, we link you to the actual studies behind the HR stats so you can dig in deeper or use the data to back up your initiatives and C-level requests.
Here you go:
Talent acquisition
- 11% of candidates lied during the hiring process in 2023; 12% of 2024 job seekers plan to lie!
- 50% of the people who accepted a job offer in the past 12-month period backed out prior to starting.
- 77% of recruiters say they have difficulty finding qualified candidates for open positions.
- 64% of talent professionals feel recruiting will be more favorable to candidates and employees — not them and their companies — over the next five years.
- 77% of workers think a company’s values and purpose — from sustainability and diversity to transparency and goals — are important when selecting an employer.
- It costs employers an average of $4,683 to hire a new employee — and an executive level hire costs more than $28,000.
- It takes an average of 11 weeks to hire for an open position — up from seven weeks in 2021.
- 49% of workers aren’t actively looking for a new job, but 50% would consider applying for a job if approached by a recruiter.
- 60% of candidates ghost employers during the interview process.
- Companies saw an average of 26 applicants per job posting — an increase of 23.8% over the previous year.
- 45% of job candidates said they wouldn’t accept a job offer if it didn’t offer accommodating hours.
- 59% of HR leaders expect more competition to find and recruit talent in the coming months.
- 68% of job candidates expect to see salary information in your job postings.
- 64% of job candidates are more likely to apply to a job that posts the compensation in the description.
- 44% of candidates decided not to apply to a job in the past year because the job description did not include salary information.
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)
- Companies with diverse management teams are 9% more likely to achieve higher revenue than their competitors.
- 56% of employees feel that a focus on increasing DEI and its initiatives in the workplace is a good thing.
- 61% of employees say their company has policies that ensure fairness in hiring, pay or promotions under DEI initiatives.
- 72% of employees also say the policies in place ensure fairness work well.
- 52% of employees say they have training or meetings on DEI in the workplace.
- Almost 55% of the people who’ve attended the training say it was helpful.
- 28% of Black workers, compared to 11% of white, 19% of Hispanic and 17% of Asian-American workers believe their companies pay too little attention to DEI.
- Another element in DEI is belonging, and 54% of employees said they would quit if they didn’t sense they belonged at their company.
- 84% of Chief Human Resources Officers say their organization’s investment in DEIB is increasing.
- 86% of HR leaders say the Supreme Court’s recent decision banning affirmative action in college admission decisions puts more pressure on employers to improve DEI.
- Companies that support cultural and religious Employee Resource Groups tend to have the highest average profit.
- 96% of large employers see DEI as the most impactful social initiative — more than sustainability and philanthropic efforts.
Employee well-being
- 70% of employees say they would more likely accept a job offer from a company that prioritizes mental health and well-being.
- Part of the reason could be that 71% of employees say they aren’t thriving at work.
- 63% of employees rated their physical well-being as “excellent” or “good”;
- 58% rated their mental well-being that way;
- 45% rated their social well-being that way; and
- 35% rated their financial well-being as excellent or good.
- 67% of employees experience moderate to extreme stress — and it affects their well-being and work.
- Employees cited these as the top factors that put them at risk for burnout from work: pressures (54%), poor leadership (39%), and a toxic culture (37%).
- On the bright side, 70% of employees believe their employer would support them in an emergency or time of need.
- 39% of employees who give their overall well-being low ratings say lack of work-life balance is the top factor.
- 60% of employees are financially stressed — and those employees are nearly five times as likely to be distracted at work over their troubled financial well-being.
Remote work and hybrid models
- Employees who don’t work where they’d prefer — in a hybrid or remote model — are substantially less engaged, more likely to burn out and more likely to leave their company.
- The No. 1 operational priority for organizations last year was retaining talent — that was ahead of revenue. It’s important to note because ….
- Remote work reduces quit rates by 35%.
- Hybrid and remote work increase diversity and inclusion in race, gender, age, politics and religion.
- Work from home rates have stabilized to about 25% of work days (which is five times more than it was in 2019).
- Organized hybrid work models — when leaders or teams collaborate on when and how often they work on-site — result in a 1% to 3% increase in efficiency and productivity.
- 66% of hybrid and remote managers saw an improvement in productivity once they got those models working.
- Just 28% of organizations with hybrid and remote work models created clear team agreements.
- 77% of managers find it easy to manage a hybrid or remote team …
- … and 62% call it “enjoyable!”
- About 60% of companies require remote and hybrid employees keep monitoring software — aka “Bossware” — on their devices when not working on site.
- 51% of employees in a hybrid model report feeling less connected to colleagues.
- 60% of HR professionals cite cybersecurity as a top concern with hybrid work models.
- 69% of remote workers experience increased burnout from using digital communication tools so much.
Technology and automation
- 54% of organizations expect to add and/or upgrade their HR tech solutions by 2025.
- Just 43% of HR pros believe employees are satisfied with their technology and automation.
- 95% of HR professionals believe artificial intelligence (AI) could help with the application process for candidates.
- 35% of HR pros believe using AI in the hiring processes could lead to overlooking unique and unconventional talents.
- 26% believe AI will destroy the whole HR industry!
- About 30% of HR pros in Gen Z think AI will replace them.
- Fewer than 20% of Gen X and older HR pros are worried that AI will replace them.
- 44% of HR leaders say they expect HR technology transformation to provide better business results.
- 26% expect growth in headcount and skills from their technology.
- Problem is, 57% of companies say user adoption of HR technology is a hurdle in achieving results.
- 51% of HR pros say technology for skills management is their most important investment …
- … and behind that, 41% say the learning experience platforms will be the best investment.
- The global HR technology market is projected to reach $35.5 billion by 2027, growing at about 8.6% annually for five years.
Compensation and benefits
- 52% of employees are concerned about the impact of economic uncertainty on their job security.
- More than half of employers increased employee cost sharing for benefits in 2023.
- A third of employees don’t feel comfortable disclosing mental or physical health issues to their employer, prompting some companies to provide remote support offerings and self-help platforms.
- In 2023, we saw the largest compensation increases since the 2008 financial crisis.
- 83% of employees expect a raise — and, on average, they foresee a 8.3% boost.
- 72% of companies say they need to improve their approach to linking compensation and performance.
- 80% of employers shifted costs to employees instead of cutting benefits due to the rising cost of healthcare.
- 90% of employees value health insurance as the top benefit.
- 84% of companies offer employee assistance programs.
- 51% of companies offer mental health awareness programs.
- 57% of workers have “high anxiety” about health care costs beyond what their insurance covers.
- 63% of employers plan to increase family health benefits in the next two to three years.
- For remote and hybrid employees, 38% of companies offer home office stipends.
- 26% of companies offer co-working space memberships to remote employees as a benefit.
Company culture
- 57% of employees say their job fulfills their need for a sense of purpose through work.
- One-third of employees would quit if they found themselves in a toxic working environment.
- Employee engagement reached a record high of 23%, indicating people found improvements in culture, meaningfulness and personal connections.
- Remote and hybrid workers are 57% more likely to say their company culture has improved over the past two years, citing flexible work policies as the No. 1 factor behind that improvement.
- 52% of people say that leadership development has the greatest impact on improving an organization’s culture.
- A toxic corporate culture is the strongest predictor of attrition and is ten times more important than compensation in predicting turnover.
- 70% of employees in toxic work cultures experience stress, anxiety, and depression.
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