People are landing jobs faster after sending fewer applications than earlier this year, according to ZipRecruiter’s latest quarterly survey of 1,500 new hires.

Nearly half, 49%, of recent hires surveyed in August said they were able to find a role within a month of starting their search, up from 39% of new hires who said the same thing as of May.

Mass applying phased out, too: Candidates sent a median of 24 applications before securing an offer, down from 30 the previous quarter. And a majority 52% said they heard back from a hiring manager within three days, up slightly from 45%.

“The job search is speeding up because there’s a better match between job seekers, the types of jobs that they are going after and what employers are looking for from them,” ZipRecruiter’s labor economist Nicole Bachaud tells CNBC Make It.

Job seekers are becoming more focused in the roles they want, and employers are putting up openings they intend to hire for quickly, she says: “On both sides of the market, we’re seeing this focus on necessity and stability.”

Workers are also deprioritizing certain career goals in order to secure stable income. Fewer new hires reported landing their “dream job” compared to the previous quarter, but a growing share, 91%, say they’re happy they took their role.

While the share of workers who landed a bigger salary slid, they’re increasingly seeking employers that offer a good culture fit and schedule flexibility, Bachaud says.

Many candidates are re-negotiating their job options given the tight market. There is currently about one job for every job-seeker on the market, per Labor Department data, compared to a record two jobs for every candidate during the Great Resignation period of 2022

“Job hugging is absolutely taking hold,” Bachaud says, referring to the concept of workers holding onto their jobs given the lack of opportunities elsewhere.

The biggest opportunities are for health-care and seasonal jobs

As for people moving into new jobs, health-care workers continue to have more options than other workers.

While health-care jobs in the health-care industry, like at hospitals and medical facilities, are weak, openings for these roles in public administration “increased significantly,” Bachaud says. That’s because more local public health authorities are looking to “transition through a lot of the changes that are happening at the federal level.”

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