Extraordinary outcomes for companies

Our data shows that companies using skills-based hiring are experiencing dramatic improvements in performance across five key metrics:

89.8%

of organizations saw a reduction in cost-to-hire

91.4%

of organizations saw a reduction in time-to-hire

92.5%

of organizations saw a reduction in mis-hires

91.2%

of organizations saw an increase in retention

91.1%

of organizations saw an increase in diversity

What our respondents told us:

Paul Musters

Founder Emaho, Netherlands

[Skills-based hiring] saves you time and, even more importantly, it saves you headspace.

Emma McFetridge

Talent acquisition partner Barzaarvoice, Northern Ireland

Employees are staying with us for longer, and it’s more efficient because we’re doing fewer interviews to decipher their overall skill set.

Achyut Menon

Managing director Options Executive Search, India

Today, it's a no-brainer. You just can’t get people without checking their skills.

Jacco Valkenburg

Trainer employer branding and recruitment Recruiter University, Netherlands

Online assignments test an applicant’s skills and capabilities, so a traditional resume and cover letter are no longer needed.

Hung Lee

Curator Recruiting Brainfood, UK

We need to be conscious of the new challenges around diversity that come from hiring remote workers.

Segun Mustapha

People and culture officer Suntory Beverages and Food Nigeria, Nigeria

We didn’t have women on our production lines. We used skills-based hiring to eliminate criteria and hired seven women and five men.

Max Armbruster

Founder and chief executive Talkpush, Hong Kong

Skills-based hiring enables us to expand the talent pool and consider a broader, wider range of talent.

Rashid Lansah

Candidate

I’d prefer to apply and work for employers that use skills-based assessments. I’d be valued for what I can do, with limitless opportunities for growth.

Nicole Roberts

Senior vice-president of people Forta

If you’re looking to actually match that person’s work style, and bring them in as they are, skills-based hiring can definitely help.

Matt Alder

Producer and host of The Recruiting Future podcast

Back when the internet first started transforming recruiting, we thought CVs would be the first thing to go.

Ellena Bartolini

Candidate

In a world that’s constantly changing, it is key to be able to move around between companies and roles. I don’t want to be put in a box.

Sara Sremcevic-Brown

Candidate

A piece of paper can never show whether a candidate is suitable for a certain role.

Kuba Garstka

Candidate

I was lucky to find a place that assessed my attitude and knowledge, not my background. Many bright people never get this chance.

We surveyed

2,736
employers
2,666
employees
40+
industries

about skills-based hiring

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What is skills-based hiring?

Skills-based hiring is a recruitment methodology whereby job candidates are hired for open roles based on quantifiable skills, rather than using subjective methods, such as resumes.

Have you used skill tests or assignments in your hiring process in the last 12 months?

Attracting and retaining world-class talent

People who are recruited using skills-based hiring are happier in their job roles than those who are not. 72.1% of those hired using skills-based hiring were either happy or very happy in their current role, compared to 62.9% of those recruited via other methods.

People who are recruited via skills-based hiring stay longer in their roles. Only 3.2% of employees recruited using skills-based hiring plan to leave their roles in the next 12 months, compared with 7.3% of employees who were not recruited via skills-based hiring.

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