Talent Insights, retail edition. Hiring activity recorded by 308 retailers on Teamtailor between September 2025 and August 2026.

The same 147 retailers took 48% more applications for 2% fewer hires. What that did to hiring-manager participation, sourcing, candidate experience and pay.

Get the report as a PDFRead the findings first
Cover of the Retail Hiring Benchmark report
+48%
applications, same 147 retailers
35
median applications per job; top 10% drew 257+
70.3%
hired within 90 days with two active managers, vs 48.5% with none
52
median actions per active hiring manager in a year; average 170

In short

Across 308 retail customers, recorded applications rose 141% and hires 68%. Among the 147 retailers live before both years, applications still rose 48% while jobs posted were flat and recorded hires fell 2%.

Sample: 308 Teamtailor retail customers; 147 live in both years; EU-hosted subsets for hiring-manager and channel analyses. Period Sep 2025 – Aug 2026. Activity recorded in Teamtailor by its customers, not a representative estimate of the industry.

Hiring volumes and outcomes

Application growth outpaced hiring, even among established customers.

+48%applications, same 147 retailers

Retail talent teams handle 48% more applications on the same number of jobs. More applicants per role, not more hiring.

Applications, Aug 2024 to Aug 20253,004,204
Applications, Aug 2025 to Aug 20264,447,062+48% on the same 147 retailers

Applications received by the same 147 retailers in both periods

  • Applications 4,447,062 (was 3,004,204), +48%
  • Jobs posted 41,912 (was 41,171), +1.8%
  • Recorded hires 38,311 (was 39,133), −2.1%
  • Median time to hire 16.6 days (was 16.9)
  • Candidate NPS +39.7 (was +40.8), 40 of 147 responding both years

Hiring volumes and outcomes

Volume per job varies widely.

35median applications per job; top 10% drew 257+

A tenth of jobs carry a flood the team has to screen; the rest wait for candidates. Capacity is the problem, not attraction.

  • Median job receiving applications drew 35
  • Top 10% of jobs drew 257 or more
  • 70,805 jobs analysed

Hiring-manager participation

Jobs with more participating hiring managers were more likely to record a hire.

70.3%hired within 90 days with two active managers, vs 48.5% with none

A 21.8-point lift in the chance of hiring at all. An association, not a proven cause, and jobs with more managers took longer to reach a first hire.

Two active managers70.3%Three or more77.4%One62.2%None48.5%

Share of jobs recording a hire within 90 days, by active hiring managers in the first 30 days (52,332 jobs)

  • None: 41,003 jobs, 48.5% hired within 90 days, median 20 days to first hire
  • One: 9,803 jobs, 62.2%, 25 days
  • Two: 1,336 jobs, 70.3%, 28 days
  • Three or more: 190 jobs, 77.4%, 31 days
  • 52,332 matched jobs across 266 retailers, 90-day follow-up

Hiring-manager participation

Activity is concentrated in a few managers.

52median actions per active hiring manager in a year; average 170

Recommendations: one active hiring manager in every job's first month; reviews and stage moves as a weekly habit, not a monthly backlog.

  • 1,110,776 actions across 6,516 accounts at 180 retailers
  • Participation = a review, note, score, message, stage move or rejection in the job's first 30 days

Sourcing and candidate experience

Sourced applications convert at 19.3x the rate of inbound applications, while inbound supplies most recorded hires.

12.96%of sourced applications hired, vs 0.67% inbound and 5.58% referred

Teams should reserve weekly time for proactive sourcing from talent pools and external sources. Differences do not measure candidate quality.

Sourced12.96%Referred5.58%Inbound0.67%

Share of applications hired, by channel, matured cohort

  • Inbound: 5,332,755 applications, 35,992 hires, 0.67%
  • Sourced: 103,958 applications, 13,475 hires, 12.96%
  • Referral: 3,533 applications, 197 hires, 5.58%
  • Inbound still produced 73% of recorded hires

Sourcing and candidate experience

Candidate experience indicators.

64.1%of applications from a phone (known device)

Recommendations: design the apply flow mobile-first, close rejections inside 30 days, record referrals in the platform so the channel can be measured.

  • Median time to recorded rejection 11 days
  • 24.7% of rejections recorded 30+ days after applying
  • Device known for 67.4% of applications; 4,534,283 rejected applications in the timing sample

Pay benchmarks

Recorded GBP offer medians rose about 5%; a small, concentrated sample.

+5.1%GBP annual offer median, £29,500 to £31,000

Offer data entered in the platform, not market pay. Not adjusted for occupation, seniority, hours or location.

GBP annual offer median, previous year£29,500
GBP annual offer median, current year£31,000+5.1% on 1,320 offers from 12 retailers

Offer-weighted medians entered on offers sent through Teamtailor

  • GBP annual: £29.5K to £31K, +5.1%; middle 50% £26,437–£43,000; 1,320 offers, 12 retailers
  • GBP hourly: £12.00 to £12.70, +5.8%; middle 50% £12.00–£13.20; 577 offers, 9 retailers
  • Accepted offers: annual +5.3% to £31,048, hourly +5.8% to £12.70
  • One retailer accounts for 84.2% of GBP hourly offers

What to do with it

  • Get at least one hiring manager active in every job's first month.
  • Make reviews and stage moves a weekly habit, not a monthly backlog.
  • Test more proactive sourcing; measure its yield rather than assume it.
  • Record referrals in the platform so the channel can be measured.
  • Design the apply flow mobile-first and close rejections inside 30 days.

Get the full Retail Hiring Benchmark

The complete report with method notes, sector tables and every recommendation, as a PDF. We send it to your work email.

Also available: Hospitality Hiring Benchmark 2026

Preview build: this form is connected to the report's MCAE handler before publishing.