Recruitment agencies using AI are twice as likely to have increased revenue last year, new Bullhorn report reveals

AI adoption saves recruiters up to 17 hours weekly, with one-quarter of that saved on candidate matching alone

SYDNEY – 26 February 2025 – The recruitment industry is entering 2025 with renewed optimism and a deepening focus on digital transformation. According to Bullhorn’s GRID 2025 Industry Trends Report, top-performing agencies are almost three times as likely to have an AI strategy compared to those that lost revenue in 2024. These agencies are focused on digital transformation,  prioritising automation and AI across the entire recruitment process to amplify teams to do more, at every step. This technology has become a strategic differentiator that fuels faster placements, higher redeployment rates, and ultimately, business growth.

“2025 is the year that AI becomes mainstream for the recruitment industry,” said Jason Heilman, SVP of Product – Automation & AI at Bullhorn. “Our customers are already using AI to handle sourcing, matching, personalised messaging, screening and scheduling and seeing an impact across their entire recruitment workflow. Recruiters are spending more time building relationships with the best candidates and working more jobs. Candidate experience has improved, they are receiving feedback more quickly, hearing about more relevant jobs, and getting the opportunity to showcase their skills beyond their resume. Customers are attracting higher-quality talent and filling more jobs, faster. It’s a win-win-win.”

AI adoption takes massive leap forward in 2025 

A clear message emerged from the report: AI adoption is accelerating this year. Almost three-quarters (74%) of agencies have either purchased an AI solution, built their own, or are experimenting with generative AI. Additionally, 48% of agencies are already experimenting with AI to sort through candidate resumes and submissions to find the best ones to screen for individual jobs. Among the most influential innovations, search and match agents have emerged as a game-changer, with agencies identifying them as their top AI tool for improving productivity and maintaining an edge in the market. 

As AI adoption takes center stage, agencies should not overlook the importance of accurate and complete data. In fact, 37% of agencies still cite data limitations as a barrier to maximising the benefits of AI, highlighting the importance of data hygiene and system integration. There is still significant data clean-up and data governance to be done to reap the rewards of AI in recruitment.

AI and automation slash hiring times and improve the candidate experience 

Recruiters currently spend an average of 13.9 hours each week searching for the right candidates to fill roles, and one-third (33%) of agencies say recruiter productivity is the biggest obstacle to reducing expenses this year. But, according to the report, fully autonomous search and match could save recruiters nearly a third of this time (4.2 hours per week) on candidate searches alone, in addition to 4 hours each week for screening and 3.7 for administrative tasks.

According to the GRID 2024 Talent Trends Report released last fall, 80% of candidates want to be placed in less than 20 days, and Bullhorn’s GRID Industry Trends Report underscores the impact of automation and AI on placement timelines. By automating these searches and leveraging AI-driven screenings, agencies are drastically improving efficiency, accelerating time to placement, and becoming more likely to staff candidates within 20 days — as much as 5 times more likely for certain use cases. 

Overall, AI and automation tools are poised to give recruiters up to 17 hours back each week, enabling them to shift their focus from repetitive tasks to building stronger relationships and prioritising other revenue-driving activities. This could amplify an agency’s existing team, giving them a crucial advantage as competition in the recruitment space intensifies and client and candidate expectations for faster, better results continue to rise.

Recruitment agencies unlock profitability with technology use 

Overall, agencies that gained revenue in 2024 were 27% more likely to be experimenting with generative AI and 28% more likely to already be using AI for more personalised outreach. Additional factors that contributed to revenue gains in 2024 were engaging candidates, having the right job matches, and readily redeploying top talent — all areas that AI will make more efficient. In fact, agencies using AI for faster placement are 17% more likely to have seen revenue gains in 2024, and agencies using AI to achieve better job matches are 63% more likely to have seen revenue gains in 2024.

To learn more, read the complete GRID 2025 Industry Trends Report.

About the GRID 2025 Industry Trends Report

The 15th annual GRID 2025 Industry Trends Report, surveyed over 1,500 recruitment professionals across industries and around the globe to uncover the most effective strategies in today’s business environment.  The report combines both quantitative data from recruitment industry professionals along with qualitative insights from seven leading industry executives, offering a firsthand view of the trends revealed in the survey.           

About Bullhorn                                     

For the past 25 years, Bullhorn has dedicated itself to building industry-leading, cloud-based software for the staffing and recruitment industry. Through partnerships with 10,000 customers globally, Bullhorn has built a vast knowledge base of recruitment best practices and deep domain expertise to help agencies scale their businesses. Founder-led and headquartered in Boston, Bullhorn employs 1,500+ people across 14 countries focused on delivering an incredible customer experience – its core mission. To learn more, visit www.bullhorn.com or follow Bullhorn on LinkedIn or X.