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Hiring Research & Annual Survey Reports

12/17/2025

Research Hub

EmployTest publishes original research to help employers make better informed hiring decisions. Our work combines surveys of HR and hiring professionals with aggregated assessment data from real applicants tested on our platform.

Two kinds of research live here

Each answers a different question about hiring today, so pick the lane that matches what you need.

Hiring Research

What hiring teams are experiencing

Surveys of HR professionals, recruiters, and hiring managers on the challenges they face day to day.

  • Hiring challenges and applicant quality
  • Pre-employment testing usage
  • Hiring technology and AI adoption
  • Recruiting priorities for the year ahead
Applicant Benchmark Data

How applicants actually perform

Aggregated assessment results from real applicants tested through EmployTest during live hiring processes.

  • Typical scores by test and skill area
  • Score ranges and variation between applicants
  • Skills versus cognitive and aptitude results
  • Completion times, timed and untimed

Applicant skills benchmark data

What job applicants actually score on pre-employment tests, drawn from real hiring activity on the EmployTest platform.

✓Average and median assessment scores
✓Middle 50% score ranges
✓Score distributions at common reference points
✓Test completion times
✓Timed versus untimed assessment results
✓Differences between skills, knowledge, cognitive, and aptitude assessments
✓Multi-year score trends for selected assessments
✓Coverage across Excel, Microsoft Office, accounting, attention to detail, cognitive ability, and more

These figures represent applicants tested through EmployTest. They describe our applicant pool and are not meant to represent the U.S. workforce or all job applicants generally.
Explore Applicant Skill Benchmarks
Read the Benchmark Methodology

2026 hiring and pre-employment testing research

Our newest survey looks at what hiring teams are prioritizing as they head into next year.

Latest Edition

2026 Hiring & Pre-Employment Testing Trends Report

Skills verification remains the top challenge hiring teams report, ahead of applicant volume and recruiting cost. The full report breaks down where testing and AI are fitting into the hiring process this year.

  • 79% of surveyed hiring professionals use skills, aptitude, or behavioral assessments
  • Skills verification continues to rank as the top hiring challenge
  • Concerns about applicant quality remain steady across industries
  • AI is showing up in more parts of the recruiting and hiring process

79%use skills, aptitude, or behavioral assessments
4.1 / 5rated confidence in candidate skills as their top concern
3.6 / 5rated applicant quality as unpredictable

Previous editions

A look back at how hiring teams approached testing, budgets, and AI in prior years.

2024 Edition

2024 Hiring Industry Report

View the 2024 Research

Published in 2024 and based on a 2023 survey of U.S. HR professionals, this report captured hiring practices before AI adoption became widespread.

84%used some form of pre-employment testing
61%said assessments carried real weight in hiring decisions
71%administered assessments during the interview process
29%were already using AI in parts of their work

Download the Original 2024 Report

How EmployTest research is produced

Transparency matters when hiring data informs real decisions, so we publish where our numbers come from and what they leave out.

Benchmark data methodology

Our methodology page explains how benchmark figures are built and where their limits are.

  • Where the underlying assessment data comes from
  • What the applicant sample represents
  • Minimum sample size requirements
  • How averages, medians, and ranges are calculated
  • How timed and untimed tests are handled
  • How privacy is protected

Assessment development and validity

Benchmark data shows how applicants perform. Validity addresses a separate question: whether an assessment measures skills that matter for the job.

Our assessment development process draws on industrial-organizational psychology, subject-matter expertise, and job analysis, applied consistently across the test library.

Using EmployTest research

Journalists, researchers, employers, and other publishers are welcome to reference our findings with proper attribution.

  • Attribute the finding to EmployTest
  • Link to the original EmployTest research or benchmark page rather than a secondary source
  • Preserve the population, sample, and time period tied to the statistic
  • Present applicant benchmark data as our own applicant pool, not the entire U.S. workforce

Suggested citation

EmployTest, Applicant Skills Benchmark Data, 2021 to 2026.

Media and research inquiries

Need additional context, methodology detail, or a custom cut of published data? Our team can help with media and research requests.

Contact the Research Team