Joveo has published its Recruiting Benchmarks Report 2026, providing an in-depth overview of the shifts seen in the US labor market in 2025 and how they may be felt in the coming year. The findings highlight the dual reality existing in the labor market, where some jobs are seeing an unprecedented influx of potential candidates, while for others, the talent shortage persists.
Using data derived from millions of job postings and applicants nationwide, the report demonstrated that applicant volume experienced up to nine times growth in some occupational fields from late 2022 to late 2025. However, the growth has not been felt in all areas. While recruiters for some white-collar positions faced overwhelming numbers of candidates, roles tied to specific locations or requiring licenses and credentials saw little improvement in available talent.
“Most recruiting benchmarks still describe the labor market as a single story. That’s no longer true,” said Kshitij Jain (KJ), Founder and CEO of Joveo. “Our data shows two labor markets operating at the same time – excess volume in some roles, real scarcity in others. This report helps talent acquisition leaders see where they’re over-investing, where they’re under-served, and how to adjust based on what’s actually happening.”
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The surge in applications has also created new operational challenges. According to the report, record-high volume has not made hiring quicker or easier. In fact, manual screening has emerged as a major choke point, with recruiters opting for candidates at the head of the pipeline and overlooking better fits down the line. Hung Lee, Curator of Recruiting Brainfood, mentioned that today’s application volumes increasingly strain traditional hiring funnels.
These artificially inflate the experience requirements for candidate-dense jobs, making it harder to fill entry-level positions and pushing up hiring costs. The number of tech jobs requiring five-plus years of experience, for example, has noticeably increased over the past three years.
The report makes it clear that these dynamics are structural rather than cyclical. On licensed and credentialed jobs, broader economic changes have done little to grow the talent supply. Based on insights from Joveo’s Interactive Insights platform and partner data sources, the study provides talent leaders with a clearer framework to recalibrate recruiting strategies for 2026.
