Dive Brief:
- Recruiters spent a record 286 minutes per week talking to candidates and clients in the first quarter of 2026, according to a recent report from the American Staffing Association in partnership with Prodoscore.
- That’s double the call time logged in the first quarter of 2024, per the report. Recruiters also used 1.36 artificial intelligence tools on average in the first quarter of 2026, compared to an average of one AI tool in the first quarter of 2024.
- Stephen Dwyer, president and chief executive officer of ASA, said AI implementation has given recruiters “more time to focus on developing the connections that drive long-term growth.” He added that relationship-building was still the “cornerstone of modern recruiting.”
Dive Insight:
The findings come as HR and recruiting teams navigate an extremely challenging workload. A May report from recruiting platform Ashby found that since 2021, applications per hire have tripled to more than 300 applications per open role.
That kind of inflow has created a need for more streamlined ways of managing the hiring process. Sam Naficy, CEO at Prodoscore, said that the ASA report highlights the need for more information about where and how AI is helping recruiters manage their workflow.
“Doubling call time in two years is a significant finding, and it tells a compelling story about where AI adoption is actually paying off,” Naficy said in a statement. “Recruiters aren’t being replaced by automation; they’re being freed by it to do the work that requires human judgment and human connection.”
The need for human intervention in the hiring process is especially important in order to weed out bad actors who may pretend to have job skills just to get a foot in the door. As AI tools become more prevalent, some applicants have begun using strategies like employing job listing keywords in their applications in order to slip through AI tracking systems.
