by John Zappe
The time to fill open positions has reached a national average of just about 25 days, the lengthiest job vacancy period in the 13 years covered by the DICE-time to fill by industry DFH Vacancy Duration Measure.
The monthly report on time to fill and recruiting efforts says that on average it took 24.9 working days (Monday-Saturday) in June to post, source, and hire a new employee. That's more than nine days longer than it took at the height of the recession in July 2009. Then, the average was 15.3 working days.
The lengthening time to fill is having a serious impact on search firms. Data from MRINetwork says growing numbers of candidates are taking alternative offers while clients make up their mind. As a consequence, 81% of MRI recruiters in a recent survey, say the labor market today is being driven by candidates.
The vacancy duration report produced by careers sites publisher Dice Holdings Inc. follows a report Tuesday from the Labor Department on job openings and turnover. The report showed there were more job openings in the country -- 4.7 million as of the last day of June -- than at any time since February 2001. In June 2013, there were 4 million openings.
