25+ AI recruiting statistics for 2024

There is a lot of talk about AI’s impact on recruiting, but you need data to know if that talk is accurate. While there is a lot of data about it available, much is two or more years old. The speed of AI evolution since ChatGPT was unveiled in 2021 means those statistics are only good for showing how much things have changed.

Here is data about AI recruiting conducted in the last few years from leading academic research, consulting companies and universities.

Recruiters use of AI statistics

AI is changing the game in recruiting, freeing up recruiters from tedious tasks and letting them focus on what really matters—finding the right talent.

Whether it's using AI to sift through resumes or automating parts of the hiring process, it’s making everything faster and more efficient.

But the real question is, can AI really match the instincts of human recruiters? Here’s a peek at how recruiters are balancing AI’s efficiency with good old human judgment.

1. A study found that for 45% of recruiters, AI automates tasks and frees up their time for more meaningful and strategic work. [LinkedIn]
2. 69% of recruiters report their organization uses applicant tracking software to identify resumes/applications that contain AI generated copy. [Gartner]
3. 67.03% of recruiters preferred a suitable candidate when given consistent human recommendations, whereas 56.1% did so when given algorithmic recommendations. [Frontiers in Psychology Journal]

AI recruiting adoption statistics

AI adoption in recruitment is gaining momentum, with many HR leaders recognizing its transformative potential.

While 38% are already piloting or implementing generative AI, 76% feel urgency to adopt it within the next two years to stay competitive. Despite this, the pace of adoption is slow for 59% of employees, with cost remaining a significant barrier.

Companies like L'Oréal, however, have demonstrated the efficiency gains AI can bring, handling millions of applications with impressive speed and accuracy. Here's a deeper dive into AI adoption trends in HR.

1. 38% of HR leaders reported they are piloting, planning implementation, or have already implemented generative AI. [Gartner]
2. 76% of HR leaders believe they will be behind their peers if they don’t implement AI solutions in 12-24 months. [Gartner]
3. 59% of employees report that adoption in their organizations remains slow. [EY]
4. A full 55% of companies are investing more toward automated recruiting measures that use AI. [University of Southern California]
5. 46% of respondents cited screening and assessments as the capability they most want to improve in the hiring process, followed by applicant communications at 39%.  [Harvard Business Review]
6. L'Oréal used AI tools to handle 2 million applications for 5,000 positions, greatly improving recruitment efficiency. [Marketing Week]
7. The high cost of AI adoption is a major barrier, with 68% of HR professionals citing budget constraints as the main reason for not implementing AI systems. [Cognition, Technology & Work Journal]

Candidate perceptions and AI-usage statistics

From increased applications for AI-related roles to candidates leveraging AI tools to improve their resumes, the influence of AI on the job market is undeniable.

Despite the advantages of efficiency and fairness, public sentiment remains cautious, with most Americans uncomfortable with AI making final hiring decisions. Here's a closer look at the statistics driving these trends.

1. LinkedIn job posts that mention artificial intelligence or generative AI have seen 17% greater application growth over the past two years than job posts with no such mentions. [LinkedIn]
2. About half of Americans say AI would do a better job than humans at treating all job applicants in the same way. But a majority of Americans (71%) oppose AI making a final hiring decision. [Pew Research]
3. 88% of respondents to a survey were using generative AI to enhance their jobs. [McKinsey]
4. About half of all job seekers are using artificial intelligence tools to apply for roles. [The Financial Times]
5. 45% of candidates have used generative AI to build or improve their CVs.
6. About 63% of respondents found AI tools easy to use, and 38% found them useful or very useful in recruitment processes. [Computers in Human Behavior Reports]
7. 69% of respondents recognized the reduced response time as the most significant advantage of using AI in recruitment. [Computers in Human Behavior Reports]
8. New job applicants who were randomly assigned algorithmic assistance with their resumes — that is, received help from an interface that offered suggestions to improve spelling and grammar — were 8% more likely to be hired. [MIT Sloan]

Quality, speed, and cost recruiters

When it comes to hiring, it’s all about quality, speed, and cost. AI tools are helping companies do more with less—faster interview scheduling, fewer drop-offs, and lower costs per hire

1. 97% of survey respondents whose organizations have adopted automated technologies in their hiring process, saying that it has helped hire people more effectively, led to quicker interview scheduling and reduced candidate drop-off. [Harvard Business Review]
2. In one year, Unilever saved over £1 million, reduced recruiting time by 75%, and hired their most ethnically and gender diverse class to date. [Unilever]
3. 30% is saved by companies on their cost-per-hire through AI recruitment augmentation. [Deloitte]
4. An analysis of 17 studies of applicant evaluations shows that a simple equation outperforms human decisions by at least 25%. [Harvard Business Review]
5. AI-based CV-matching systems can achieve high accuracy, such as the XGBoost classifier, which attained an accuracy rate of 95.14% in matching candidate resumes to job requirements​. [International Journal of Information Management Data Insights]

AI recruiting bias statistics

Bias in hiring is an ongoing issue, and even with advances in LLMs, it's still present. It will be interesting to see how bias in AI recruitment continues to evolve.

1. A recent study exposes ongoing racial bias in hiring practices, showing that white-sounding names are often preferred, with a notable overall discrimination rate of 10%. [TechTarget]
2. A meta-analysis covering 97 field experiments of discrimination, with over 200,000 job applications, found significant hiring discrimination across several countries. The callback rate for white natives compared to non-whites varied across countries, with Germany showing the lowest level of discrimination at 24%, and France the highest at 83%​. [Sociological Science]
3. Studies found that implicit bias contributes significantly to hiring discrimination, with certain demographic groups being unconsciously disadvantaged. For example, 25.9% of hiring discrimination is attributed to disability, 23.7% to race, and 21.2% to sex. [MDPI Journal AI]

Conclusion

Today, AI recruiting tools are already revolutionizing the recruiting industry, and it is expected to continue doing so in the next few years. It will have a significant impact on resume screening, interviews, predictive analytics, real-time insights on performance, and outbound and sourcing optimization, among many other elements in recruiting.

Once barriers to adoption are overcome, we will likely see more businesses successfully implementing AI recruiting to make hiring easier.