Are job orders going up or down? And what does it take to fill them? Each month, Bullhorn tracks key indicators from our proprietary data to reveal changes in the global hiring landscape. Check in at the start of every month for the latest trends in permanent and temporary hiring.
Month ending Dec 31, 2025 Last updated January 6, 2026
Temporary recruitment showing positive signs
Permanent job orders declined in December, as is typical for the holiday season, ending the year roughly where it did in both 2024 and 2023. The permanent job fill rate rose in December even as submissions declined, a pattern often observed at the end of the year as activity slows but key hires are still being made before year-end. Permanent fill rates partially recovered from last month’s steep decline and ended 2025 slightly above December 2024 levels.
Temporary activity picked up in December, compared to November, a less usual trend, with temp job orders per head ending 2025, well above levels seen in either of the past two years, a positive signal. The job fill rate for temporary staffing has accelerated notably over the last two years. Employers are filling temp roles quickly and, based on submissions, with the same or less recruiter effort as earlier in the year. Overall, these metrics point to a positive trend in temporary placements, potentially signalling improving employer confidence and a stronger temporary pipeline.
In general, 2025 was a largely stable year. Recruiters compensated for lower pipeline growth by filling jobs more efficiently. Whatever happens in terms of job volumes in 2026, this trend toward efficiency will likely continue, especially as AI adoption increases across the recruitment industry.
Temporary job orders up in atypical December jump
Job fill rates up year over year in both perm and temp
Recruiter effort drops at year-end
Methodology
Hiring outlook metrics were calculated from Bullhorn ATS data for customers that have opted in to share aggregated data. Customers were qualified as professional or commercial if the majority of their placements were within these industries. Temporary/contingent placements are those with a set end date; permanent/direct hire placements are those without.
Jobs orders per recruiter is calculated as the volume of job order records created divided by the unique number of users within the calendar month.
Job fill rate is calculated as the proportion of job order records that were placed within 90 days of their open date. This is a trailing indicator that covers jobs created three calendar months prior to the period.
Submissions per job order is calculated as the volume of client submissions divided by the volume of job orders in the period. This metric represents records created in the previous calendar month.
