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September 23, 2024 
5 min read
As fall arrives, it looks like the job market may be cooling down alongside the weather. In this workforce report, we break down what’s going on with the job market and take a deeper look at the newest data on candidate experience.
The September employment situation is complex. We’ll start with the good news. Job openings continued to rise in August, up 5% from last year. Applications remained steady in turn. Applicants per opening reached the highest level yet in 2024, making the job market slightly more employer friendly.
Now for the less-than-good news. Hires were down 11% from August 2023. Hires could see a resurgence this fall — the steady uptick in openings points to that possibility. Or it could indicate that employers may be struggling to find the right candidates to fill their open roles.
Now for the top insights from our upcoming Talent Experience Report. We learned that most workers (59%) aren’t looking for new jobs right now. More than a third aren’t interested in another job whatsoever. Only 17% of workers said they are actively searching out a new opportunity.
Candidates are more apt to look within their own company for what’s next. According to iCIMS data, internal applications are up 2% from the start of the year Meanwhile, external applications are down 7%.
What does this mean for employers? Employees may be more interested in internal opportunities, but that doesn’t mean employers should assume their workers will turn down alluring opportunities. With external hires on the rise, employers must ensure they’re providing an employee experience that inspires retention.
Our Talent Experience Report revealed interesting trends among certain groups of workers. Older workers, for instance, are “unretiring” — much to the delight of their employers. Forty-five percent of respondents said they know someone over the age of 55 who has re-entered the workforce after retirement.
Recruiters are taking notice. Seventy-two percent of TA pros said they are actively seeking out older candidates. Despite this focus, older Americans entering the labor market still feel disadvantaged. More than two-thirds of baby boomers believe 25 year-olds have an easier time landing a job.
Alongside older workers, women are also coming back to work. According to iCIMS data, applications by women increased a whopping 56% between July 2021 and July 2024.
This growth may be partially due to employers’ interest in women applicants. Nearly 80% of recruiters said they are taking steps to attract female candidates.
Interestingly, women applying for jobs aren’t solely interested in industries historically dominated by women, like healthcare and retail. Since 2021, industries including finance and manufacturing have seen major increases in their female applicants.
Tech jobs also received more attention from women job seekers. In fact, applications for tech jobs skyrocketed 187% since July 2021. Two-thirds of women said that recent external market factors — the rise of AI and economic uncertainty among them — have not affected their desire to land a tech job.
While older workers may be making a return to the job market, their younger counterparts are dominating the hiring scene. So how do employers appeal to younger applicants? The answer lies in communication.
Younger applicants want frequent communication, primarily by email. They also enjoy testimonial videos, too, as they help applicants imagine what their job might entail.
Young applicants are not alone in their desire for communication: 23% of respondents say the most frustrating aspect of the application process is feeling like their application is going into a digital black hole.
Another thing younger workers desire? A hiring experience that takes no more than three weeks. This expectation isn’t impossible. According to iCIMS data, overall time to hire clocked in at just over 2.5 weeks in July 2024.
Download the full September Workforce Report.
Rhea Moss is director of customer experience and data insights at iCIMS. She oversees the iCIMS Insights program, which aggregates and anonymizes the billions of data points iCIMS’ software processes per year and transforms them into actionable insights to help drive business and hiring strategies. Previously, Rhea was head of products at prescriptive data, and served as product and program managers at MongoDB and Thomson Reuters.