2026 Job Board Applicant Response Report – Whippy AI Guides

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56.5% of staffing agencies, businesses whose entire job is filling roles fast, never engaged the "perfect" applicant we sent them. Two years ago, that number was 40%. It got worse, despite more AI and automation than ever.

Direct-hire employers did even worse: only 23.9% responded, taking an average of 81 hours when they did. Across all 668 companies tested, the average response time was 71 hours, and only 5.2% responded within the first five minutes, the window that matters most.

In this report, you'll learn:

• Speed of initial responses
• Response channels (Indeed, SMS, email, phone)
• Follow-up persistence
• Staffing agencies vs. direct-hire employers
• Where AI adoption stands in recruiting

All 668 companies tested, listed alphabetically in the appendix. Find out if yours is one of them.