Time to Fill vs Time to Hire Metrics: Formula & Key Differences

Two critical recruitment metrics—time to fill and time to hire—play an important role in evaluating the effectiveness of the hiring process. These metrics provide insights into how swiftly a company can secure qualified candidates and highlight areas for improvement in the recruitment strategy. Understanding the differences between time to fill vs time to hire is essential for hiring managers and human resource management teams aiming to optimize their recruitment process.

This article explores these metrics in depth, covering the entire process, including their formulas, key differences, and practical implications, including their formulas, key differences, and practical implications.

What is time to fill?

Time to fill measures the entire recruitment timeline, from the moment a job requisition is approved to when a candidate accepts a job offer. It reflects the efficiency of the entire hiring process, encompassing job posting, candidate sourcing, screening, interviews, and offer acceptance. A prolonged time to fill can lead to vacancy costs, such as lost productivity or overburdened staff, and may cause companies to lose top candidates to competitors.

Based on a recent study, the average time to fill a position is 42 days. To improve this metric, organizations can benefit from tools like Market Pricing, which provides up-to-date market rates for thousands of jobs.

Time to fill is a vital metric for strategic planning, as it helps organizations anticipate staffing needs and allocate resources effectively. For instance, a company with a lengthy time to fill may need to invest in recruitment software or refine job descriptions to attract suitable candidates faster.

Tracking this metric, hiring managers can identify bottlenecks, such as delays in approvals or inefficient candidate sourcing strategies, and streamline the recruitment process to secure the best candidates.

Time to fill formula

To calculate time to fill, subtract the date the job requisition is opened from the date the candidate accepts the job offer. The formula is:

Time to fill = Date of offer acceptance – Date position opened

For example, if a job opening is approved on March 1, 2025, and the candidate accepts the job offer on April 14, 2025, the time to fill is 44 days. This calculation includes all stages of the recruitment process, providing a comprehensive view of hiring efficiency. Using an applicant tracking system (ATS) can automate this process, ensuring accurate data collection and reporting.

Reporting and Analytics can support this with automated tracking and dashboards that help deliver accurate hiring metrics.

What is time to hire?

Time to hire focuses on the candidate’s journey through the hiring funnel, measuring the time from when a candidate applies to when they accept the job offer. This metric evaluates the efficiency of the selection process, including screening, interviews, and offer negotiations.

A short time to hire indicates a streamlined interview process and a positive candidate experience, which is crucial for keeping candidates engaged and preventing them from accepting offers elsewhere. Additionally, based on a recent study, the average time to fill open positions is 44 days.

Time to hire is particularly valuable for assessing how quickly a company can move potential candidates through the hiring process. A lengthy time to hire may frustrate job seekers, leading to candidate drop-off or a negative perception of the company. Optimizing this metric, organizations can enhance their recruitment strategy, ensuring they secure top talent before competitors.

Customizable Dashboard helps HR teams track candidate timelines and key hiring KPIs, enabling them to monitor time-to-hire in real-time and swiftly address any bottlenecks thanks to its personalized design.

Time to hire formula

To calculate time to hire, subtract the date the candidate applies from the date they accept the job offer. The formula is:

Time to hire = Date of offer acceptance – Date candidate applies

For instance, if a candidate applies on March 10, 2025, and accepts the offer on March 24, 2025, the time to hire is 14 days. This metric excludes the pre-application phase, such as creating the job posting or obtaining approvals, focusing solely on the candidate’s experience. Recruitment software can track this metric automatically, providing real-time insights into the hiring process.

Time to fill vs time to hire

While time to fill and time to hire are related hire metrics, they measure distinct aspects of the recruiting process. Understanding the differences between time to fill vs time to hire is crucial for optimizing recruitment timelines and improving hiring efficiency. Here are the key distinctions:

• Scope of measurement: Time to fill encompasses the entire recruitment process, from job requisition to candidate acceptance, including internal preparations like drafting job descriptions. Time to hire focuses on the candidate’s journey, starting from their application to offer acceptance.

• Starting point: Time to fill begins when the hiring manager submits a job requisition, while time to hire starts when a candidate applies for the role.

• Purpose: Time to fill helps assess the overall efficiency of the recruitment process, including internal coordination. Time to hire evaluates how quickly the company engages and selects qualified candidates, reflecting the candidate experience.

• Impact: A long time to fill can increase vacancy costs and disrupt business operations, while a prolonged time to hire may lead to losing top candidates to competitors offering a faster hiring process.

For example, a company’s average time to fill might be 40 days, but its average time to hire could be 20 days, indicating that half the time is spent on pre-application tasks like approvals or job posting. Analyzing both metrics, hiring managers can pinpoint inefficiencies, such as slow internal processes or lengthy interview schedules, and implement solutions like automated applicant tracking systems or collaborative interviewing tools.

HR Technology Integration enables seamless data exchange between your ATS and compensation systems, which reduces manual work and delays in job approvals and requisition processing—major contributors to long time-to-fill metrics.

FAQs

Here are the common questions about time to fill vs time to hire:

Does time to fill include weekends?

Yes, time to fill typically includes weekends and holidays, as it measures the total calendar days from job requisition to job offer acceptance. However, some organizations may adjust calculations to exclude non-working days for a more accurate reflection of active recruitment time.

Using an ATS can help standardize how days are counted, ensuring consistency across reports. For instance, if a job opening is posted on a Friday and the candidate accepts the offer, the shorter your time to fill includes the weekend unless specified otherwise. the following Monday, the time to fill includes the weekend unless specified otherwise.

What is the average time to hire an employee?

According to the report, the average time to hire climbed to 44 days, allowing companies to calculate average time across different sectors. in 2023. This figure isn't uniform across all sectors, though. Industries with more niche positions and limited candidate pools often experience longer hiring timelines. Their report highlights that energy and defense companies, for instance, can see hiring processes extending beyond 67 days.

What is an example of time to fill metrics?

Consider a scenario where a company needs to fill a marketing manager position. The hiring manager submits the job requisition on April 1, 2025. The HR team posts the job opening on April 3, screens applications, conducts interviews, and extends a job offer on May 10, which the candidate accepts on May 12. The time to fill is calculated as:

Time to fill = May 12, 2025 – April 1, 2025 = 41 days

This example illustrates the entire recruitment process, from requisition to acceptance. If the company’s average time to fill is 50 days, this 41-day period indicates above-average hiring efficiency, possibly due to effective candidate sourcing strategies or streamlined interview processes.