HireRight Unveils 2025 Global Benchmark Report

Accuracy of results remains the top background screening priority according to global respondents to HireRight’s 18th annual benchmarking survey. HireRight, a leading provider of global background screening services and workforce management solutions, announced the release of its 2025 Global Benchmark Report. This year’s comprehensive report identifies regional and global trends in background screening, talent acquisition, and workforce management, based on the survey responses of more than 1,000 human resource, risk, and talent acquisition professionals worldwide, collected between Feb. 11 and March 9, 2025.

Among this year’s survey findings, accuracy of results held its position as the most frequently cited priority for employers when choosing their employment screening provider.

Among this year’s survey findings, accuracy of results held its position as the most frequently cited priority for employers when choosing their employment screening provider. Compared with our 2023 and 2024 survey findings, fewer respondents said that cost and speed are major considerations this year, suggesting that many businesses are willing to spend a little more time and/or money on their background checks if it improves the accuracy of their findings. HR Technology Insights: Oyster’s 2025 Report: Expertise Economy Transforms Hiring

Other survey results shared in HireRight’s 2025 Global Benchmark Report include:

• More than three-quarters of businesses have found candidate discrepancies during the screening process in the last 12 months. Undisclosed criminal convictions and education and employment discrepancies were the most common types of candidate inconsistency identified.
• Many businesses are still not conducting identity checks despite rising levels of ID fraud. Worryingly, one in six respondents said their business has experienced ID fraud as part of their hiring process, and an additional three out of 10 were unsure.
• Candidates dropping out if remote working wasn’t offered was the top recruitment challenge in 2024. The next most common challenges last year were positions remaining unfilled for three to six months (North America and APAC) and understaffing in HR/recruitment teams (EMEA).
• Most companies are unsure how to respond to candidates using generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the hiring process. Seven out of 10 respondents globally said their company was undecided on their views on candidates using generative AI tools to assist with their job applications or resumes; however, of the minority that expressed a view, slightly more saw it as a positive than a negative.
• Finding qualified job candidates is the most common talent acquisition challenge expected for 2025. Other top concerns include candidates ghosting their potential employers (being non-responsive), fielding multiple job offers at the same time, and not having their pay/benefits expectations met.

HR Technology Insights: Sage Launches Supply Chain Intelligence for SMBs “As the economic and hiring landscape continues to shift, the findings in HireRight’s 2025 Global Benchmark Report give an insight into current global perspectives on background screening, hiring trends, and the use of new technologies, such as AI, in the recruitment process,” said Euan Menzies, President and CEO at HireRight. “We are eager to share our survey’s findings to help support organizations refine their hiring and retention strategies”. For more information and to download HireRight’s 2025 Global Benchmark Report, please visit www.hireright.com/benchmark2025.