The company Traffit has published the “Recruitment Trends 2024/2025” report. It analyzed over 2.5 million applications in 5 different sectors from January to October 2024 in the context of recruitment. The report provides insights into which level of employees were most often sought, how many candidates accepted job offers and why some of them rejected offers, and why sourcing and own candidate base have overtaken traditional job portals.
From Junior to Manager – Specialists Wanted
From January to October 2024, the average number of applications per position was 52, while from July to October it was 57. This represents an increasing trend compared to 47 in 2023 and 26 in 2022. The analysis of over 2.5 million applications shows that non-IT recruitment agencies have the most applications to consider (1,299,401 CVs from January to October 2024). Close to half a million were received by IT companies (422,823) and non-IT companies (410,572). Software houses received 303,810 CVs and IT agencies 192,808.
Of all the analyzed recruitments, only 21% (8,567 ads) specified the level of the position. The most sought-after specialists were seniors (43%) and managers (38%), but also juniors (9%). Senior skills were most commonly sought in the software house segment (73% of applications in this sector), while managerial and junior skills were sought in IT companies (32%) and other industries (17%).
Recruitment for directorial and C-level positions accounted for only 2.5% of all recruitments and were published less frequently in standard job offers, suggesting they were often conducted “discreetly” with recruitment agencies and sourcing playing a significant role in acquiring the candidate. The remaining 79% of recruitments, which did not include information about a specific position, show that companies are flexible in terms of experience requirements or open to candidates at various levels.
Offer – Reasons for Acceptance and Rejection
In the last 10 months, 13,585 candidates received an offer from a potential employer through Traffit. Furthermore, 63% of them accepted the proposed offer, however, some rejected it (37%). The highest acceptance rate relates to internships (79%), followed by regular (76%), manager (72%), senior (68%), director (67%), junior (58%).
According to Adrian Wolak, CEO of Traffit, “The lower acceptance of offers among candidates who are starting their career path may be due to discrepancies between expectations and conditions offered by employers, e.g. in terms of wages, career paths, or work-life balance. Juniors, entering the job market, often look for roles that will allow them to gain experience quickly, but also offer a real opportunity for promotion and professional development support. If the proposals do not meet this, they often decide to continue their search.” A high percentage of rejected offers among juniors may be associated with the fact that they often enter the job market for the first time. They try to compare different offers to find the right career path. Their decisions are often more susceptible to change because they are trying to choose the best option that meets their ambitions and potentials for the future.
As for the reasons for the overall rejections, most often it is a complete resignation from the process (36%). Candidates usually did not provide an exact reason for withdrawal, but those who did revealed changing priorities, family/private situation, dissatisfaction with recruiter communication, or extended process. Anna Sykut, Product Marketing Manager at Traffit, adds that “firms should shorten recruitment times, improve communication and transparency at each stage of the process to minimize withdrawals. It is worth thoroughly analyzing what lies behind the withdrawal, for example, through surveys or feedback from candidates after the process has ended.”
Warsaw Dominates in Job Offers
Data from over 40,000 processes (66% of which had an assigned location) shows that large agglomerations were the most active in terms of employment since the beginning of the year. Warsaw had 26% of the announced location, followed by Krakow (7%), Poznan (5%), and Gdansk (4%). The dominance of Warsaw is the most visible in IT agencies (51% of recruitments), and software houses (44%), suggesting that these industries are geographically tightly focusing on a few major cities. Other industries are seeking candidates in a larger and more scattered number of locations.
Sourcing Takes the Lead
Since the beginning of the year, the increasing potential of the company’s own candidate base has been noticeable. In last year’s report on application sources from Traffit, the own database took second place (18% of applications). In 2024, it already ranks first – 27% of the over 2.5 million applications go through it. LinkedIn (22%) takes second place, and Pracuj.pl (21%) third.
Dominika Petrykowska, HR & Recruitment Partner at Giganci Programowania comments, “Looking at the survey results, the most popular channel through which candidates submit CVs is LinkedIn, just slightly less apply through Pracuj.pl. This may suggest that candidates are increasingly using LinkedIn not only for networking and personal branding but as an alternative and reliable job board. Considering that the most common source of applications are candidates added manually by recruiters, it can be concluded that an effective LinkedIn ad can directly affect recruiter sourcing efficiency and reinforce their recruitment and credibility in the eyes of candidates.”
Recruiters often manually add candidates (sourcing). In both IT (39%) and non-IT agencies (37%), sourcing is the most common source of applications. Even in software houses (22%) and IT companies (11%), manually adding candidates remains an integral part of the strategy.
Petrykowska adds that “analyzing the data from the report, it can be concluded that acquiring a matched candidate seems to be increasingly difficult, and standard acquisition methods, such as job boards, are no longer sufficient. It is necessary to acquire candidates independently, especially if we look at outsourced processes to both IT and non-IT agencies. This may be influenced by increasing firm requirements and awareness of rising recruitment costs, including ad publication. Thus, logically and a good step seems to be to focus recruiters on competencies allowing them to effectively source candidates, so-called the best of the best.”
The increase in the importance of sourcing and expansion of own candidate bases is evidence that companies are looking for more effective methods to reach talents and build long-lasting relationships, which in the long term may give them an advantage in the competitive job market. Meanwhile, recruitment in Poland requires increasing flexibility and individualized approach, especially in the context of acquiring higher-level talents and in response to the needs of the youngest workers.
Source: https://managerplus.pl/blisko-2-na-3-kandydatow-akceptuje-otrzymana-oferte-pracy-najczesciej-poszukiwane-sa-kompetencje-seniorskie-24461
