How to Mitigate Rising Time-To-Hire Before You Lose Top Talent

December 2, 2025 – Data indicates that time-to-hire is rising across industries. On the surface, this looks like a shift back to “normal” — returning to pre-pandemic levels from a period when the labor market was unusually volatile. However, a higher time-to-hire metric is detrimental for employers, according to a recent report from 180 Engineering. “Longer hiring cycles make it more difficult to secure top talent, particularly in the tech and engineering sectors,” the study said. “When it takes longer to complete the interview process, it gives your competitors time to swoop in with lucrative offers and lure your candidates from you.”

Time-to-hire dipped during the hiring surge of 2021-22. “The need to fill open roles quickly – to manage pivots, economic volatility, and a candidate’s job market – led to a quicker interview process to avoid losing candidates,” the 180 Engineering report said. “But, as economic turmoil and widespread layoffs spread across the tech and engineering sectors, hiring slowed. So too did the urgency to hire.”

The struggle for tech and engineering companies is that while time-to-hire is increasing, unemployment levels continue to remain low. In June 2025, the United States reported unemployment rates of 2.8 percent in the tech sector and 2.5 percent in engineering, compared to an overall rate of 4.2 percent. “This means that it is still very much a candidate’s job market, especially for highly skilled and emerging roles,” the 180 Engineering report noted. “Companies that hesitate to move quickly to secure top talent risk losing that talent to competitors.”

Time-to-hire has been increasing in 2025 and is approaching levels that were considered the norm in 2019. However, 180 Engineering explained that the dynamics that are creating these longer recruitment cycles in 2025 are complex. “Several interrelated factors are lengthening the hiring process across the engineering and tech sectors,” the study said. “Understanding those factors is key to mitigating them.”

Economic And Labor Market Headwinds

The labor market in the tech and engineering sectors was volatile in the early 2020s. “Although it is stabilizing now, the massive layoffs in the tech sector, in particular, that began in 2022, have created a sense of uncertainty for both employers and candidates,” the 180 Engineering study explained. “Companies are wary of hiring, unsure of which way the current economic and labor market headwinds might shift. For many, hiring has become bogged down by requiring multiple levels of approval, which extends time-to-hire.”

“Candidates are cautious too,” the report continued. “Having gone through a period of massive layoffs and attuned to the general economic turbulence, many are worried about job security and hesitant about changing roles. As a result, they may take longer to evaluate or negotiate job offers.”

Related: What Defines an Effective Recruiting Team

Recruiters also say that specialized technical skills are in high demand. “Skill shortages in emerging technologies are especially problematic since few candidates have the required  knowledge and skill sets,” the 180 Engineering report said. “Roles in artificial intelligence, machine learning, data engineering, and advanced manufacturing are among the hardest to fill. As companies compete fiercely for available talent, job offer negotiations take longer and salaries are driven increasingly higher.”

Hiring Freezes And Structural Shifts

As companies adapt to tempestuous socioeconomic trends, digital transformation, increasing automation, and AI adoption, they’ve needed to redefine their workforce needs, according to the 180 Engineering report. “In some cases, that has meant implementing hiring freezes,” it said. “In other cases, that has meant restructuring job descriptions, combining responsibilities, or creating entirely new roles. This kind of strategic approach adds a level of complexity to the hiring process, which often results in an increased time-to-hire. Whether defining a new role or redefining an existing one, it can take significant time for all parties to reach consensus. As well, a newly defined role can create uncertainty for both the employer and the candidate and may lead to a longer interview process as details are questioned and hammered out. Now the trend is moving towards hiring fewer people as well as taking longer to finalize hiring decisions.”

Implementing A Structured Hiring Process

Unclear or overly complex hiring processes are one of the biggest reasons behind a lengthy time-to-hire metric, the 180 Engineering study noted. Developing a standardized hiring process for all candidates that follows a competency-based framework can help ratchet down time spent on the hiring cycle.

The Power of Partnership: The Value of Third-Party Recruiters in Talent Acquisition

Third-party recruiters bring tremendous value to a talent acquisition team by acting as strategic partners in the pursuit of top senior-level talent. Their extensive networks allow them to access passive candidates, while their expertise in recruitment enables them to quickly compile shortlists of qualified applicants tailored to a company’s specific needs, according to a recently released report from SGA Talent.

“To develop a standardized process, create precise job descriptions that focus on essential skills and measurable competencies,” the report said. “Disregard the nice-to-have requirements. Eliminating them from the mix will allow you to hone in on the candidates that will be the best fit, which will reduce the number of candidates you interview and minimize time-to-hire – all while ensuring that all candidates are evaluated fairly and consistently. Another common issue that can slow time-to-hire is misalignment between recruiters and hiring managers. When those two groups have a different understanding of the ideal candidate profile, interview logistics, and/or expected timeline, things can go awry, extending your time-to-hire.”

Establish And Track Recruitment Metrics

It’s difficult to know what needs improvement or how to improve things if you don’t measure those things, according to the 180 Engineering report. “If you don’t already track recruitment metrics, start by establishing clear benchmarks for key metrics like time-to-fill, time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, and candidate drop-off rates,” the study said. “Once you have those benchmarks in place, you’ll be able to easily pinpoint bottlenecks in your hiring process. Knowing just where slowdowns are occurring can help you understand where adjustments need to be made.”

Related: Interim Positions: Effectively Closing Talent Gaps

Another issue that 180 Engineering points out is that frequently lengthens time-to-hire is a lack of clarity around candidate evaluation criteria. “Without that criteria, it can take time for decision-makers to reach consensus on the best candidate,” the report said. “For each job posting, develop clear evaluation criteria – e.g., which skills, experiences, or cultural attributes are non-negotiable and which are flexible. By ranking candidates against this criterion, decisions can be made more quickly and confidently.”

Improve The Feedback Loop

Recruiters also note that candidates often express frustration over the long wait for feedback after interviews. “Slow feedback loops hurt the candidate experience, increase time-to-hire, and give your competitors a chance to swoop in and lure your prime candidate away,” the 180 Engineering report said. “Establish clear expectations for turnaround times on feedback – and hold managers accountable. For times when the feedback turnaround expectation can’t be met, develop alternative protocols to keep your candidates engaged. For example, a quick email explaining the situation and providing an updated ETA for feedback can help prevent them from accepting offers from your competitors.”

How The Right Recruitment Partner Can Help

If your time-to-hire has slowed, it can take time to resolve the bottlenecks, the 180 Engineering report explained. “In the interim, you could lose several opportunities to snag top talent,” it said. “And, even if you’ve optimized all your processes, sometimes it’s difficult to balance hiring demands with internal capacity. A specialized recruitment or staffing partner can provide an alternative solution. Recruitment firms that specialize in engineering and tech talent maintain deep and robust talent networks. They can dip into those networks to quickly provide highly qualified candidates with niche skill sets, such as a controls engineer with required certifications or an AI specialist who is knowledgeable in specific frameworks.”

Recruitment agencies possess a wealth of valuable information, the 180 Engineering report continued. “Because they work with multiple clients and across industries, they know about current salary trends, candidate expectations, and hiring activity at your competitors,” the study said. “Having access to that information can help your hiring manager make informed and timely decisions. When you find a specialized recruitment firm that’s a great fit for your company, that firm becomes an integral part of your hiring team. They can provide you with access to top talent and critical job market information and they can also take over routine tasks that tie up your hiring team’s time – all of which can reduce time-to-hire.”

Today, time-to-hire is increasing. “But that increase is due to a complex combination of factors and does not point to an abundance of available talent,” 180 Engineering said. “Instead, economic uncertainty has created a sense of caution as companies deliberate hiring strategies. But, the scarcity of tech and engineering talent makes this situation less than ideal. The longer your hiring process takes, the more likely you are to lose top candidates.”

To read the full report click here!

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media