2024 Applicant Tracking System (ATS) Stats

Applicant Tracking Systems Are Powerful Tools That Transform Hiring

Applicant tracking systems (ATS)—hiring software that automates, streamlines, and optimizes the recruiting process—are widely used, with over 98% of Fortune 500 and 75% of recruiters utilizing this powerful hiring software to hire better quality candidates more strategically and faster. 

As the predominant private label applicant tracking system on the market today, of course, we will use adjectives like “powerful” to describe what this software is capable of. However, we don’t just do that because we’re admittedly biased. We do that because there is a whole host of data and statistics backing up just how transformative applicant tracking systems are for the businesses that utilize them. 

If you’ve visited our blog before (and if not, welcome!), you’ve undoubtedly seen some of these powerful statistics scattered across our content. However, we wanted to gather them together for you in one easy, succinct post. 

All the Applicant Tracking System Statistics You Need to Know

Applicant Tracking Systems Make Hiring Better

That heading may sound hyperbolic, but the data backs it up. ATS users are overwhelmingly happy with what this software does for their hiring strategies. 

• 94% of ATS users say applicant tracking systems have improved their hiring. 
• 78.5% of ATS users say applicant tracking system usage has increased the quality of their hires, which is a huge value add to any organization. Companies across all industries are currently struggling with hiring quality candidates—70% of companies who invested in hiring software did so to increase the quality of their hires.
• It bears repeating that over 98% of Fortune 500 companies utilize applicant tracking systems. Additionally, 70% of large companies and 35% of SMBs use applicant tracking systems.
• Applicant tracking systems provide job candidates with a positive hiring experience, which helps net better quality candidates and keeps them at their jobs. There’s a 40% lower turnover rate for new hires that were hired utilizing an ATS (this is especially pertinent when you consider that it costs one-half to two times an employee’s annual salary to replace them). 

Applicant Tracking Systems Save Time and Money

Recruiting is timely and expensive—it costs the average employer $4,000 and 24 days to find and hire a new employee (which isn’t accounting for onboarding time and costs). 

• 86% of ATS users say it reduced their time-to-hire—68% of those who invested in hiring technology did so to increase the speed and efficiency of their hiring. 
• ATS usage makes filling job vacancies 20% faster than those who don’t use them.
• LinkedIn data found that ATS usage can shorten the hiring cycle by 60%, which today’s job seekers overwhelmingly want—companies risk losing top candidates if their hiring process goes on too long. 
• LinkedIn also found that 70% of workers agree that ATS sourcing automation would increase their overall productivity—small business owners spend up to 40% of their working hours on tasks that don’t generate income (including many of the manual tasks encompassed by recruiting and hiring). 

Saving time and money go hand in hand—time is money, as they say—turnover costs US businesses trillions of dollars every year, and ATS usage can help decrease churn and increase retention. 

Additionally, ATS usage helps companies hire higher-quality candidates and avoid bad hires, which also has financial benefits. According to the World Economic Forum, a company benefits $5,303 for hiring a superstar performer but benefits $12,489 by avoiding a toxic hire.  

• Small businesses can save up to $10,000 by utilizing an applicant tracking system. 
• Companies that use advanced analytics with their ATS have 56% greater revenue than less advanced organizations. 

Applicant Tracking Systems Are Embracing AI 

AI is rapidly transforming the world of work, and savvy hirers and ATS makers are taking heed.

• 50% of employees utilize AI in some capacity, with 88% of businesses worldwide using AI for hiring.
• 20% of organizations plan to start using an ATS with AI integration in the next five years.
• 79% of organizations that use an ATS utilize AI integration.
• 62% of hiring managers believe that generative AI can help them find better candidates, and 80% of HR professionals consider using generative AI in recruiting.  

While hiring professionals are excited about AI, there’s some skepticism among job seekers. 71% of Americans oppose the use of AI in making final hiring decisions. This showcases a discrepancy between employers and employees knowing how AI is utilized during hiring. When people are more knowledgeable about AI usage, their fears dissipate—data from the same study shows that 43% of Americans who know a lot about AI usage in the hiring process support its utilization. This indicates that it’s essential to have human faces as part of the hiring process to assuage candidates' fears until AI knowledge becomes more ubiquitous. 

We’ve embraced AI in our ATS at HiringThing with our AI-Enabled Job Descriptions. Our data found that 60% of recruiters and hiring managers say it took them more than an hour to write job descriptions, so we created a tool that utilizes generative AI to create dynamic, unique job descriptions in just minutes! 

Applicant Tracking Systems Are a Good Investment 

The ATS market is growing and is expected to reach $3.4 billion by 2026. Plus, 73% of organizations increased their investments in talent acquisition technology in 2022, and 70% said they’d continue doing so in 2023.

• 89% of C-Suite executives and 83% of HR leaders say HR tech enables them to be more flexible and responsive to the constantly shifting world of work.
• 68% of recruiting professionals say investing in newer technology is the best way to improve recruiting performance.
• 52% of small businesses say recruiting and retaining top talent is the top problem they face, and 69% of applicants won’t take a job if the company is unresponsive—applicant tracking system helps automate communication with potential candidates, which makes the application process smooth and dynamic. 
• 64% of companies utilizing HR tech achieve measurable business value from their HR SaaS investments.

Transform Your Business With an ATS

In 2022, HR tech guru Josh Bersin reported that 74% of organizations felt like their recruiting strategies were underperforming, which means that it’s time to look for new tools for most organizations. HiringThing’s robust ATS makes hiring simple and is always updated to reflect hiring needs, such as the AI integration mentioned above. Check it out here.

What differentiates HiringThing from other applicant tracking systems on the market is our white-label capabilities. HR Tech platforms, HROs, and forward-thinking vertical SaaS vendors utilize our hiring technology to add proprietary recruiting solutions to their platforms, driving revenue, expanding market share, and giving them a competitive edge. Want to know more? 

About HiringThing

HiringThing is a modern recruiting and employee onboarding platform as a service that creates seamless talent experiences. Our white label solutions and open API enable technology and service providers to offer hiring and onboarding to their clients. Approachable and adaptable, the platform empowers anyone, anywhere to build their dream team.