The rising cost of recruiting should be an important consideration for any business that’s on the market for talent, as it draws our attention to the problem of employee turnover and the benefits of retention over replacement.

Most recruitment and HR hiring teams will agree that candidate application rates are continuing to run high, however, they might have also noticed the rising cost of recruiting. Studying recruiting cost trends and the general state of recruitment with a keen eye, a new Appcast report just offered to put the full recruitment funnel into perspective for employers and hiring teams.

Relying on an advanced data set to draw its conclusions, the report found that cost-per-application (CPA) and cost-per-hire (CPH) rose sharply in 2025 despite a softer labor market, attributing this to “shifts in job board pricing and programmatic media models.” This presents us with an interesting conundrum: it has never been easier to find candidates interested in taking up a role, but it has also rarely been as expensive to actually hire a new employee.

The Recruitment Paradox: More Applicants, Fewer Hires, and The Rising Cost of Recruitment

The Appcast 2026 Recruitment Marketing Benchmark Report, which was released last week, offered us some interesting insights into the state of hiring today. For HR leaders attempting to navigate a “low-hire, low-fire” market, it is indeed a critical resource. The volume of applications is continuing to grow at an impressive pace, with more and more workers being pushed back into the job market to seek their next source of employment.

This means that employers can benefit from a more diverse selection of candidates and luxuriate in the ability to pick those who are right for their business. However, the cost of converting these applications into hired workers is also on the rise.

The Spike in Cost per Hire in 2025 Is a Reminder that More Volume Doesn’t Always Mean Better Results

The Appcast report indicated that candidate application rates are trending on the higher side, which means that despite the trend of job hugging, there are many who are still on the lookout for employment. This is made easier by new resume generators and platform features that simplify the process of applying to a role. Despite this, job seekers are no more likely to find work.

If you’ve spent any amount of time job hunting on LinkedIn, the “Easy Apply” feature may have appeared like a gift from the heavens, intended to simplify the process of applying for a job quickly and efficiently. While this allows a greater number of job seekers to send in their applications, it also means that most candidates never hear back about the role.

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