Recruiting teams are more in the spotlight than ever before. The skills shortage is real, budgets are tight, and the pressure to succeed is high. And how is success usually measured? That's right: time-to-hire.
But is that still relevant today? In 2025, it will no longer be just about ‘how fast?’ – but about ‘how well, how sustainably, how smart?’ If you want to be successful in recruiting in the long term, you need new benchmarks. We show you three KPIs that really matter – and why they help make recruiting more strategic, more human and more effective.

1. Quality of hire – measuring what really matters

‘Quality of hire’ sounds like one of those HR buzzwords that everyone understands differently. But that's exactly what makes it so exciting:
While time-to-hire only shows how quickly a position was filled, quality of hire measures whether it was a good decision.

Recruiting teams that want to make quality visible ask themselves questions such as:

• How well is the new person doing in onboarding?

• Are they productive after 90 days – or still in limbo?

• What is the feedback from managers after six months?

The goal is not control – it's clarity. When new colleagues leave after a short time or mentally check out, it's not an isolated incident, but often an indication of a lack of coordination in the process.

Making quality of hire measurable also means integrating recruiting and specialist departments more closely with each other.

2. Pipeline health – don't just fill it, understand it

Active sourcing is no longer hard work – it's targeting.
The question is not: How many people were contacted?
But rather: How healthy is the pipeline really?
Those who keep an eye on ‘pipeline health’ look beneath the surface:

• How many of the sourced candidates end up in interviews?

• How many are even reachable?

• Where do potential talents drop out – and why?

It's not about quantity, but about balance: between reach and relevance, between activity and conversion.

A good pipeline doesn't just feel full – it's well thought out, diverse and dynamic.
What's more, it directly influences other KPIs such as interview-to-hire and offer acceptance rates.
Those who analyse this data in a targeted manner make better decisions – and fill positions more sustainably.

3. Candidate sentiment – gauging the mood in the funnel

Candidates no longer evaluate recruiting processes at the end – they do so throughout the entire process. In real time. The famous ‘candidate experience’ will become an ongoing feedback loop by 2025: How is communication handled, how appreciative is the process, how quickly does it progress?

But instead of just asking ‘Was everything okay?’, today it's about more than that:

• Do applicants feel seen – or like a item on a to-do list?

• Do they come to the interview motivated – or do they cancel without giving a reason?

• Would they recommend the process to others – even if they are not hired?

Candidate sentiment is not just an emotional snapshot – it is an early indicator of brand impact, funnel quality and cultural fit. Those who listen here – actively and systematically – can take targeted countermeasures. And in the end, they win exactly the people who really want to stay.

Conclusion: Recruiting is becoming a management discipline

Recruiting in 2025 is no longer a sprint, but a well-thought-out process. It's about strategic decisions, sound data and genuine relationship building. KPIs such as time-to-hire remain relevant – but only as part of a bigger picture. Those who want to develop further need new perspectives: quality before quantity, dialogue before Excel, impact before speed.

Think smarter about recruiting – with Aurio

Aurio helps recruiting teams put these perspectives into practice through automated active sourcing that is not only faster but also more relevant – and really reaches candidates.

👉 Arrange a free demo now and discover how data-driven, human recruiting works today.