2025 proved to be a turbulent year for hiring teams. Apply rates climbed, the overall labor market cooled, and the cost per hire rose despite the slowdown. Those dynamics left many talent‑acquisition (TA) leaders questioning whether their spend was translating into actual hires. Appcast’s latest benchmark attempts to answer that by supplying data that bridges the gap between top‑of‑funnel activity (clicks and applications) and bottom‑of‑funnel outcomes (offers and hires).
The report’s two headline upgrades are:
- Candidate disposition benchmarks – For the first time, the study tracks each stage of a candidate’s path: click, apply, screen, interview, offer, and hire. This granularity lets organizations pinpoint where prospects drop off and assess the true efficiency of their recruitment spend.
- International hiring benchmarks – The data set now incorporates cost and performance metrics from a handful of key global regions, allowing recruiters to compare domestic and overseas campaigns side‑by‑side.
Matt Molinari, CEO of Appcast, emphasized the strategic value of these additions: “For 10 years, this report has helped recruitment teams understand not just what’s happening in the labor market—but why. With the addition of disposition data and international benchmarks, the 2026 edition gives TA leaders the most complete picture yet of how their recruitment marketing investments translate into real hiring outcomes.”
The numbers: What the data reveals
Drawing on more than 302 million clicks, 27 million applications, and input from roughly 1,200 employers, the report paints a nuanced portrait of the current hiring climate. Below are the most salient takeaways.
Rising recruitment costs
Both cost‑per‑application (CPA) and cost‑per‑hire (CPH) experienced a noticeable uptick in 2025. The increase is attributed to evolving pricing structures on job boards and a shift toward programmatic recruitment media buying, which, while offering targeting precision, can also drive up unit costs when demand spikes.
Sustained high apply rates
Despite the cost pressure, candidate apply rates stayed robust. The surge is linked to an overall increase in job‑seeker volume and more refined recruitment‑marketing tactics that continue to attract interest at the top of the funnel.
Diverging labor‑market dynamics
The report confirms a deepening “white‑collar recession,” with office‑based roles seeing a marked rise in applications, while frontline or “standing‑up” positions—particularly in health‑care—remain expensive and difficult to fill. This bifurcation suggests that talent pools are fragmenting along skill and sector lines.
Shrinking remote‑work advantage
Remote and hybrid roles, which once enjoyed a clear edge in candidate attraction, have seen that advantage erode. Changing expectations among job seekers appear to be normalizing remote work, reducing its pull as a differentiator in the talent market.
Geographic cost differentials
Fast‑growing Sun Belt states delivered stronger apply rates and lower CPA figures, reinforcing the region’s reputation as a cost‑effective recruiting ground. Conversely, older, more rural states continued to generate the highest advertising costs, underscoring the importance of location‑specific budgeting.
Putting the data into practice
For B2B technology firms that rely heavily on programmatic recruitment, the new disposition metrics can be a game‑changer. By mapping the exact point at which candidates exit the funnel, marketers can reallocate budget from underperforming channels to those that demonstrably move prospects toward an interview or offer.
The international benchmarks also open the door for multinational organizations to benchmark their U.S. campaigns against overseas efforts. For instance, a company expanding into Europe can now compare its CPA in a Sun Belt state with the cost structure in a comparable European market, informing decisions about where to prioritize spend.
How this fits into the broader ad‑tech ecosystem
Programmatic recruitment has been converging with broader programmatic advertising trends, leveraging real‑time bidding, data‑driven audience segmentation, and AI‑enhanced optimization. Appcast’s report underscores that the same pressures affecting digital ad spend—price volatility, inventory scarcity, and measurement complexity—are now manifesting in the talent‑acquisition arena.
The inclusion of down‑funnel data aligns with a growing industry demand for end‑to‑end attribution. Advertisers across sectors are moving beyond clicks and impressions, seeking to tie media investment directly to revenue‑generating outcomes. In recruitment, the ultimate revenue proxy is a successful hire, making Appcast’s disposition benchmarks a logical evolution.
Competitive context
While Appcast remains a leading player in the programmatic recruitment space, other vendors such as Joveo, Recruitics, and Beamery have also introduced more sophisticated measurement tools in recent years. However, Appcast’s claim of being the first to publish comprehensive candidate‑journey benchmarks gives it a distinct data advantage—at least until competitors catch up.
The report’s emphasis on international data may also signal a strategic push to capture market share in regions where programmatic talent acquisition is still nascent. By providing early benchmarks, Appcast positions itself as a go‑to partner for companies looking to scale globally.
Industry reaction
Early responses from TA leaders suggest the report will be a valuable reference point for budgeting cycles. “Having visibility into each stage of the funnel lets us identify where our spend is truly effective,” said a senior recruiter at a mid‑size SaaS firm who requested anonymity. “We can now justify programmatic spend not just on clicks but on the actual hires it produces.”
Analysts note that the timing aligns with a broader shift toward performance‑based hiring models. As organizations tighten budgets, the ability to demonstrate a clear ROI on recruitment spend becomes a critical differentiator.
Accessing the full report
Appcast makes the complete 2026 Recruitment Marketing Benchmark Report available for download on its website. The document provides detailed tables, methodology notes, and regional breakdowns for those who need to dive deeper into the data.
Bottom line
The 2026 Benchmark Report represents a notable step forward in recruitment‑marketing analytics, delivering the first publicly available set of down‑funnel disposition metrics and expanding its scope to include international cost benchmarks. For B2B technology marketers who allocate significant budgets to talent acquisition, the findings offer actionable insights that can sharpen budgeting decisions, improve channel efficiency, and ultimately align recruitment spend with measurable hiring outcomes.
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