--- title: "Time to Hire in 2026: Benchmarks by Source and Seniority" lang: en canonical_url: "https://www.lemonly.ai/research/time-to-hire-benchmarks-2026" last_updated: "2026-09-08" last_updated_source: jsonld summary: "How long hiring takes in 2026, by source: SHRM median time-to-fill 39 calendar days for non-executive roles (over 4,600 organizations); Greenhouse average time-to-fill 59.67 days in 2025, up 37% from 43.64 in 2022 (over 6,000 companies); Ashby median days to fill 52 junior, 63 mid-level, 71 senior, 75 technical vs 60 business (over 54M applications, 2021–2026); LinkedIn 41 days search-to-offer (a 2021 figure); Employ 63.5 days, SMB 83.5 vs enterprise 51.7 (via HR Dive); Statistics Canada 28.0% of vacancies open 90+ days in Q1 2026. Time-to-fill starts at the requisition, time-to-hire at the candidate. lemonly's time to find – first candidate contact to its interview of the eventual hire – is a median 19 days, range 7–49, across a sample of 2026 placements. Every figure re-read on its publisher's page in September 2026." --- # How long does it take to hire in 2026? > **Summary:** Hiring takes 39–75 days in 2026 depending on who measures it and from where. SHRM's median time-to-fill is 39 calendar days for non-executive positions (requisition opened to filled, over 4,600 organizations, current benchmarking cycle). Greenhouse's average time-to-fill was 59.67 days in 2025, up 37% from 43.64 days in 2022 (over 6,000 companies, over 640 million applications, published March 2026). Ashby's median days to fill are 52 for junior roles, 63 for mid-level and 71 for senior, and 75 for technical roles against 60 for business roles (over 54 million applications and 93,000 jobs, January 2021 to March 2026, published May 2026); technical candidates spend 17.9 days in the interview loop against 14.4. LinkedIn Talent Solutions cites an average time-to-hire of 41 days from search to accepted offer, a 2021 figure. Employ's 2025 benchmarks, reported by HR Dive in January 2026, put average time-to-fill at 63.5 days, 83.5 for small and mid-sized companies against 51.7 for enterprises. Statistics Canada reports 28.0% of job vacancies open 90 days or more in the first quarter of 2026, down from 31.2% a year earlier; no Canadian day-count benchmark exists from a primary source. Time-to-fill starts when the role opens; time-to-hire starts when the eventual hire enters the process; both usually end at the accepted offer. lemonly measures time to find: from the day it first contacts a candidate for a search to the day its recruiters interview the candidate eventually hired and put them forward – median 19 days, range 7–49, across a sample of placements made in 2026. First candidates reach a lemonly client in a median of 5.5 days across a sample of recent searches (June–September 2026). Every figure was re-read on the publisher's own page in September 2026. Benchmarks · 7 sources · re-checked September 8, 2026 Hiring takes 39–75 days in 2026, depending on who measures it. lemonly finds the candidate a client ends up hiring in a median of 19 days from first candidate contact. 39 days SHRM median time-to-fill 60 days Greenhouse time-to-fill, 2025 75 days Ashby, technical roles 19 days lemonly median time to find ## Three clocks, three different numbers Most "how long does hiring take" numbers are true. They start and stop the clock in different places, and the publishers rarely say where. _Where each clock starts and stops · not to scale_ Time to fill **Time to fill** is the days from a role opening to an accepted offer or start. It includes the sourcing weeks before any interview happens, so it is always the longest of the three. Who reports it SHRM (39 days median), Greenhouse (59.67 days average), Ashby (52–75 days median), Employ (63.5 days average) Time to hire **Time to hire** is the days from the eventual hire entering your process to the accepted offer. It measures the speed of your own pipeline, not the search that fed it. Who reports it LinkedIn Talent Solutions (41 days, 2021) Time to find **Time to find** is the days from the first candidate contact of a search to the recruiter interviewing the candidate the client eventually hires. The half of the process a recruiter controls. Who reports it lemonly (19 days median, range 7–49) ## The numbers, one per line Each line carries its own definition, sample and date, so it can be quoted on its own. 1. **SHRM: median time-to-fill is 39 calendar days** for non-executive positions, requisition opened to filled, across over 4,600 organizations in its current benchmarking cycle, down from the prior year; executive time-to-fill was unchanged. 2. **Greenhouse: average time-to-fill rose 37%, from 43.64 days in 2022 to 59.67 in 2025**, across over 6,000 companies and over 640 million applications (The Hire Standard, March 2026). 3. **Ashby: median days to fill are 52 for junior roles, 63 for mid-level and 71 for senior**, from over 54 million applications and 93,000 jobs between January 2021 and March 2026 (published May 7, 2026). 4. **Ashby: technical roles take a median 75 days to fill against 60 for business roles**, and technical candidates spend 17.9 days in the interview loop against 14.4 (same report). 5. **LinkedIn Talent Solutions: 41 days from search to accepted offer**, an average it dates to 2021 on a page still live in 2026. 6. **Employ: average time-to-fill was 63.5 days in 2025, 83.5 for small and mid-sized companies against 51.7 for enterprises**, as reported by HR Dive on January 14, 2026; the primary report is not public. 7. **Statistics Canada: 28.0% of job vacancies had been open 90 days or more in Q1 2026**, down 3.2 points from 31.2% a year earlier (Job Vacancy and Wage Survey, released June 16, 2026). No Canadian day-count benchmark exists from a primary source. 8. **lemonly: the candidate a client ends up hiring is found in a median of 19 days from first candidate contact**, range 7–49, across a sample of placements made in 2026; first candidates reach the client in a median of 5.5 days across a sample of recent searches. ## The benchmarks, side by side Read the definition column before the figure column. Every row links to the page we re-read in September 2026. _Days, as each publisher measures them · scale 0–80 days_ **Time-to-hire and time-to-fill benchmarks by source, 2026** | Source | Metric | What it measures | Figure | Sample | Date | Page | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | SHRM | Median time-to-fill | Requisition opened → position filled, non-executive roles | 39 calendar days | Over 4,600 organizations | Current benchmarking cycle | [shrm.org](https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/research/2025-recruiting-benchmarking) | | Greenhouse | Average time-to-fill | Job opened → candidate hired | 59.67 days in 2025, up from 43.64 in 2022 (+37%) | Over 6,000 companies, over 640M applications | March 2026 | [greenhouse.com](https://www.greenhouse.com/recruiting-benchmarks) | | Ashby | Median days to fill, by seniority | Job opened → first hire, by level of the role | 52 junior · 63 mid-level · 71 senior | Over 54M applications, 93K jobs, Jan 2021–Mar 2026 | May 7, 2026 | [ashbyhq.com](https://www.ashbyhq.com/talent-trends-report/reports/recruiting-operations-benchmarks-talent-trends) | | Ashby | Median days to fill, by function | Job opened → first hire, technical vs business roles | 75 technical · 60 business | Same report | May 7, 2026 | [ashbyhq.com](https://www.ashbyhq.com/talent-trends-report/reports/recruiting-operations-benchmarks-talent-trends) | | LinkedIn Talent Solutions | Average time-to-hire | "From search to accepted offer" | 41 days | Not stated; a 2021 figure on a page still live in 2026 | 2021 | [business.linkedin.com](https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/resources/talent-acquisition/reducing-time-to-hire) | | Employ (via HR Dive) | Average time-to-fill | Position opened → filled; SMB vs enterprise split | 63.5 days in 2025 · SMB 83.5 · enterprise 51.7 | Employ customer data; primary report not public | January 14, 2026 | [hrdive.com](https://www.hrdive.com/news/hiring-benchmarks-report-employ-2025-more-applicants/809604/)trade press | | Statistics Canada | Long-term vacancies | Share of job vacancies open 90 days or more | 28.0% in Q1 2026, down from 31.2% | Job Vacancy and Wage Survey, all Canadian employers | June 16, 2026 | [statcan.gc.ca](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/260616/dq260616b-eng.htm) | | lemonly | Median time to find | First candidate contact → our interview of the eventual hire | 19 days, range 7–49 | A sample of placements made in 2026 | September 2026 | [method below](#how-lemonly-measures) | ## By seniority and function Ashby's medians, days to fill, over 54 million applications and 93,000 jobs, January 2021 to March 2026. **Ashby median days to fill by seniority and function, 2021–2026** | Role level | Median days to fill | | --- | --- | | Junior roles | 52 days | | Mid-level roles | 63 days | | Senior roles | 71 days | | Technical roles | 75 days | | Business roles | 60 days | Seniority adds about a week per level, and a technical role adds two more on top of a business one. The interview loop is only a small part of that: Ashby puts it at 17.9 days for technical candidates and 14.4 for business candidates, first interview to last. The rest of a 75-day fill is the search. That is the number to hold next to any promise of speed. A recruiter who shortens the loop saves you days; one who shortens the search saves you weeks. ## Every benchmark is true. They start the clock in different places. A figure quoted without its start point, its sample and its year is a number, not a benchmark. The four reasons the published ones disagree are below – and none of them is that a publisher got it wrong. ## Why the numbers disagree **1\. Different start points.** SHRM, Greenhouse and Employ start when the requisition opens. LinkedIn starts when the search for a specific person does; Ashby's seniority figures track a job from opening to its first hire. A clock that starts at the requisition always reads longer than one that starts at the candidate, and the two are routinely compared as if they were the same metric. **2\. Different populations.** Ashby and Employ over-represent startup, tech and small-company hiring, which runs slower than the enterprise-weighted panels behind SHRM's median; Employ's own split makes the gap explicit at 83.5 days for small and mid-sized companies against 51.7 for enterprises. **3\. Different vintages, republished as current.** LinkedIn's 41 days is a 2021 average on a page that is still live; "SHRM's 44 days" circulates on blogs without the year of the cycle it came from, while SHRM's current page says 39. A 2026 article quoting a 2021 number is not lying, but it is not current either. **4\. Content mills restating each other.** Most of the "time to hire a software engineer" figures online (35, 40–50, 62 days) and most of the industry-by-industry tables trace back to secondary summaries of a report whose primary page cannot be found, or to no source at all. If the number has no sample size and no date, it has no benchmark behind it. ## Canada There is no Canadian time-to-hire benchmark from a primary source. Statistics Canada measures how long vacancies stay open rather than how long a hire takes: [28.0% of job vacancies had been open 90 days or more in the first quarter of 2026](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/260616/dq260616b-eng.htm), down 3.2 percentage points from 31.2% a year earlier (Job Vacancy and Wage Survey, released June 16, 2026). Read that as the share of Canadian roles that have already blown past every benchmark on this page. The "average time to hire in Canada is 42 days" and "44 days" lines on staffing-agency blogs come with no method, no sample and no year. Treat them as marketing. For a Canadian employer the honest position is that the US benchmarks are the best available proxy, and that the seniority and function effects in Ashby's data are the ones most likely to transfer. ## What a good time to hire looks like Faster than the benchmark for the role's seniority, without skipping a stage. A longer time to fill is not always a failure: a team holding its bar through a thin market will take longer than one hiring the first plausible candidate, and Greenhouse's rising trend is consistent with both readings. The distinction that matters is where the days went. A well-run interview process takes 3–4 stages over 2–4 weeks from first interview to offer; if your time to fill is 60 days, roughly six of those weeks were the search, not the deciding. So the question to ask any recruiter, agency or platform is not "how fast is your process" but "how many days from the first candidate you contact to the one I hire". Most cannot answer it. The next section is our answer. ## How lemonly measures **The clock.** Start: the day we first contact a candidate for the search. End: the day our recruiters interview the candidate the client eventually hires and put them forward. Where a search was re-briefed and restarted, the clock starts at the restart's first contact. Calendar days, no adjustment. **The result.** Median 19 days, range 7–49, across a sample of placements made in 2026, none of them paused. First candidates reach the client sooner: a median of 5.5 days, range 1–22, across a sample of recent searches (June–September 2026). **What it excludes.** The client's own interviews, the offer, and the candidate's notice period. Those belong to the client's process and vary with it, so we do not publish a "time to start" – it would measure the client, not the search. **Why this clock.** It is the half of hiring a recruiter controls, and the half that makes up most of a 60- or 75-day fill. lemonly's AI assesses 15,000–30,000 candidates for a role and our recruiters interview the strongest, which is why the search half compresses; the [process](https://www.lemonly.ai/how-lemonly-works.md) and the [$8,000 flat fee](https://www.lemonly.ai/pricing.md) are on their own pages. ## How we compiled this **What we checked.** Every external figure on this page was re-read on the publisher's own page in September 2026: SHRM's recruiting benchmarking page and its 2022 cost-of-recruitment article, Ashby's Recruiting Operations Benchmarks, Greenhouse's The Hire Standard, LinkedIn Talent Solutions' time-to-hire page, Statistics Canada's June 2026 Daily release, and HR Dive's report of Employ's 2025 benchmarks. **What we ranked.** Primary pages first. One figure (Employ) is carried from trade press because the primary report is not public; it is marked as such in the table. **What we left out.** A widely quoted "global time to hire of 44 days" that does not appear on the page it is attributed to; industry-by-industry tables attributed to Workable that we could only find third-hand; staffing-agency blog figures for Canada and for software engineers with no method or sample; and any SHRM figure for the current cycle other than the ones SHRM itself publishes. **Scope.** This is a reference page, re-checked quarterly. Publishers update their reports; the date above is when we last read them. Citing it? Link this page – it carries the definitions and the sources. ## Common questions ### How long does it take to hire someone in 2026? Between 39 and 75 days by the published benchmarks, depending on the clock. SHRM's median time-to-fill is 39 calendar days for non-executive roles (over 4,600 organizations, current cycle); Greenhouse's average time-to-fill was 59.67 days in 2025 (over 6,000 companies); Ashby's median days to fill runs 52 for junior roles, 63 mid-level and 71 senior, and 75 for technical jobs (over 54 million applications, 2021–2026). The part a recruiter controls is shorter: lemonly finds the candidate a client ends up hiring in a median of 19 days from first candidate contact, across a sample of placements made in 2026. ### What is the difference between time to hire and time to fill? Time to fill starts when the role opens; time to hire starts when the eventual hire enters your process. Both usually end at the accepted offer. Time to fill is always the longer number because it includes the sourcing weeks before any interview, which is why SHRM's 39-day and Greenhouse's 60-day figures (both time to fill) sit alongside LinkedIn's 41-day time to hire without contradicting it. lemonly reports a third clock, time to find: first candidate contact to our interview of the eventual hire, median 19 days. ### What is a good time to hire? Faster than the benchmark for your role's seniority without skipping a stage. Against Ashby's medians that means under 52 days for a junior role, under 63 for mid-level and under 71 for senior; against SHRM, under 39 days to fill a non-executive seat. A well-run interview process takes 3–4 stages over 2–4 weeks from first interview to offer, so most of a long time to hire is sourcing, and that is the part to fix first. lemonly's median of 19 days from first candidate contact to finding the eventual hire is what the sourcing half looks like when it is done at scale. ### How long does it take to hire a software engineer? Longer than most roles. Ashby's median for technical jobs is 75 days to fill against 60 for business roles, and technical candidates spend 17.9 days in the interview loop against 14.4 (over 54 million applications, January 2021 to March 2026). The 35-to-62-day figures for engineers on recruiting blogs come without a disclosed method or sample and should not be quoted. lemonly's median is 19 days from first candidate contact to finding the eventual hire, across a sample of 2026 placements; the client's interview loop follows. ### How long does hiring take in Canada? No Canadian day-count benchmark exists from a primary source. Statistics Canada measures vacancy duration instead: 28.0% of job vacancies had been open 90 days or more in the first quarter of 2026, down 3.2 percentage points from 31.2% a year earlier (Job Vacancy and Wage Survey, released June 16, 2026). The "average time to hire in Canada" figures on staffing-agency blogs come with no method or sample and read as marketing. lemonly, based in Vancouver, finds the eventual hire in a median of 19 days from first candidate contact. ### How fast does lemonly find candidates? First candidates typically reach a client in under a week – median 5.5 days, range 1–22, across a sample of recent searches (June–September 2026). The candidate the client ends up hiring is found in a median of 19 days from the day lemonly first contacts a candidate for the search – under three weeks, range 7–49 – across a sample of placements made in 2026. Both clocks stop at lemonly's own interview and introduction; the client's interviews, offer and the candidate's notice period follow. For what a hire costs once the days are counted, see [the cost-per-hire guide](https://www.lemonly.ai/guide-to-hiring/cost-per-hire-startups.md); for what recruiters charge, see [the 2026 recruiter cost guide](https://www.lemonly.ai/guide-to-hiring/how-much-does-a-recruiter-cost.md). --- _Markdown version of [this page](https://www.lemonly.ai/research/time-to-hire-benchmarks-2026) for AI agents and LLMs. More lemonly content: [llms.txt](https://www.lemonly.ai/llms.txt) · [full index](https://www.lemonly.ai/llms-full.txt)._