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Recruiting Intensity, Hires, and Vacancies: Evidence from Firm-Level Data

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  • Forsythe, Eliza

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

  • Weinstein, Russell

    (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Abstract

We investigate employer recruiting behavior, using detailed firm-level data from a national survey of employers hiring recent college graduates. We show employers adjust recruiting effort, hiring standards, and compensation with the business cycle, beliefs about tightness, and their own hiring plans. We then show that firms expending greater recruiting effort hire more individuals per vacancy. The results suggest that when firms want to increase hires they adjust vacancies and recruiting intensity per vacancy, which may help explain the breakdown in the standard matching function during the Great Recession. Our measure of recruiting effort explains roughly 16% of the residual elasticity of the vacancy yield with respect to hires.

Suggested Citation

  • Forsythe, Eliza & Weinstein, Russell, 2021. "Recruiting Intensity, Hires, and Vacancies: Evidence from Firm-Level Data," IZA Discussion Papers 14138, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14138
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Carlos Carrillo-Tudela & Hermann Gartner & Leo Kaas, 2023. "Recruitment Policies, Job-Filling Rates, and Matching Efficiency," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(6), pages 2413-2459.
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    Cited by:

    1. Weinstein, Russell, 2021. "Graduating from a Less Selective University during a Recession: Evidence from Mobility Report Cards and Employer Recruiting," IZA Discussion Papers 14462, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Tanaka, Satoshi & Warren, Lawrence & Wiczer, David, 2023. "Earnings growth, job flows and churn," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 86-98.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    recruiting intensity; vacancy yield; labor market search and matching; recent college graduates;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

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