Hard-to-believe statistics about job applications in 2025

We all know that applying for and securing new employment is fraught with difficulties, but these hard-to-believe statistics will make even the most optimistic job hunter shudder a little:

• Every job advertised receives, on average, 250 applications (Inc)

• Hiring managers spend only 6 to 8 seconds in screening a resume (Fennell)

• Around 45% of resumes include unnecessary filler words (Kickresume)

• Almost three quarters of recruiters reject resumes because of bad formatting

• One needs to send 50 to 100 job applications, on average, to secure a new role (Zippia)

• Because of the difficulty in finding new employment, changing industries is becoming ever more common, with only 35% of people who started a new job in the past two years did so in the same industry (McKinsey)