Employers spend significant resources to attract talent, but the factors that draw a candidate in are rarely the ones that keep them. Compensation sits atop the list, with half of new hires accepting offers with higher pay, while 42% consider better benefits, according to ZipRecruiter’s latest new hire survey. Once onboarded, however, it is the day-to-day reality of the job that determines whether employees stay.
Early retention risk is increasingly tied to mismatched expectations between what was promised during recruitment and what employees encounter once they arrive. According to the survey, 15% of new hires say their initial job description barely matched or failed to reflect their actual role, and more than a quarter (26%) say they would restart a job search due to mismatched expectations.
Of particular concern to HR, once dissatisfaction sets in, the window to correct course is limited. The survey found that 78% of dissatisfied new hires plan to leave before the end of their first year. By contrast, satisfaction is strongly linked to retention, with nearly half of very satisfied new hires expecting to remain in their role for five years or longer, compared to 32% of new hires overall.
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Survey: Job seekers spend 5 weeks searching
The survey also sheds light on the broader experience of today’s job seekers. On average, new hires submitted 16 applications, spent five weeks searching and completed five interviews to secure two job offers before starting their new positions.
Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role throughout that process. According to the survey, new hires who used AI tools submitted fewer applications but attended more interviews and received more offers than those who did not.
More than one-third of job seekers said they encountered AI during the hiring process, and nearly one-third said they were tested on AI proficiency. The survey also found that applications submitted through AI auto-apply tools generated twice as many job offers as applications submitted through traditional methods.
However, the survey found a persistent gender gap in AI adoption and outcomes. Women are more likely than men to submit applications manually (58% versus 34%) and to submit more applications overall (18 versus 15), yet they receive fewer interviews (4 versus 5) and fewer offers (1 versus 2). Nearly twice as many women as men report earning less in their new role than they did in their previous position (30% versus 16%).
The growing importance of AI is also reflected in employer requirements. New hires in positions where AI proficiency was listed as a required skill reported a median of 10 interviews and three job offers. Yet only 12% of new hires prominently feature AI skills on their resumes, and just 36% mention those skills at all.
AI is also increasingly becoming part of the hiring process itself. Eleven percent of new hires said they were required to demonstrate AI proficiency during an interview or assessment, while 21% were encouraged to use AI during the interview process. More than one-third (35%) encountered some form of AI during their hiring journey, including AI-analyzed video interviews (15%), transcription tools (12%), and automated interview agents (7.7%).
While employers are placing greater emphasis on AI skills during hiring, many are investing less heavily once workers are onboarded. Twenty-one percent of new hires say they are actively trying to build AI skills for their role, but only 8.5% receive extensive AI training and another 26% receive basic resources. As a result, 28% are left to develop those skills on their own. Meanwhile, 41% report not using AI in their jobs at all.
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