iCIMS, a Holmdel-based provider of talent acquisition technology, on Tuesday released its year-end report of global workforce trends. This year’s report reveals the days of the year candidates submitted the most applications, the most popular days of the week to get a job offer, and the most — and least — popular roles that candidates applied to in 2024.
The iCIMS Insights December 2024 Workforce Report looks at the latest employer and candidate activity from its hiring platform, including the U.S. and EMEA regions.
According to the report, activity across all three iCIMS platform indicators decreased in November.
Employers’ continued hesitation to commit to hires over the last few months, according to data that shows both job openings and hires dropped in November. Last month, they were down 14% and 20%, respectively, from October. While job applications are up 8% from last year, they are down from last month.
While this reflects a typical seasonal slowdown, these significant drops in one month are steeper than usual.
The top three days people applied to jobs in 2024 fell in the middle of the summer on July 30, 31 and August 1, followed by several days in January with high application volume. The days with the lowest application volume fell on major holidays, including New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day.
To maximize getting a new position, iCIMS found that Tuesday came in as the most popular day of the week for job seekers to submit applications in 2024, as well as the most popular day for employers to open jobs and make offers.
Other interesting findings include Job seekers’ most wanted and least wanted jobs. Looking at applicants per opening, some of the hottest jobs were computer & mathematical occupations, business and financial operations occupations and transportation and material moving occupations.
“Our year-end report is data’s answer to everyone’s favorite annual music roundup, but instead of songs, we’ve got the insights employers need to understand an ever-changing labor market and make better decisions for their businesses,” Rhea Moss, global head of workforce and customer insights at iCIMS, said. “Hiring teams and business leaders should use this data to address their recruitment marketing and hiring challenges and inform their strategies for 2025 for better outcomes.”
