More Applicants, Same Budget: What the Data Shows

When you’re hiring at scale, the instinct is usually to aim for “more” — more exposure, more job boards, more traffic. But at Jooble, where we monitor real-time labour market trends across 66 countries, the data shows a different truth: more volume often means more noise.

To understand what actually works, we analysed global performance during the busiest hiring period of the year: Summer 2025. This season is the perfect pressure test for any recruitment funnel — marked by holidays, seasonal demand, unpredictable spikes, and rapid changes in candidate behaviour.

If your funnel struggles during these months, those weaknesses are almost certainly draining your budget for the rest of the year too.

Here’s what the data revealed about finding the right balance between scale and quality — and how to keep your cost per applicant steady without spending more.

The Funnel Truth: Visibility Isn’t the Same as Intent

When we map the global hiring funnel, one pattern appears everywhere: the journey from impression to application drops off sharply. You might attract large volumes of views at the top of the funnel, but only a fraction of that attention converts into actual applicants.

Our data shows that increasing spend to generate even more impressions rarely helps if the conversion journey underneath is weak.

A vacancy can gain thousands of views, yet still underperform. The real issue isn’t reach — it’s what happens between click and apply.

• If the process is too open (for example, asking only for a name and phone number), it fills the funnel with low-intent candidates and wastes budget.
  
• If the process is too demanding (long forms, multiple steps, redirects, technical errors), strong candidates give up halfway.

Both extremes harm performance. Overly complicated forms consistently reduce the number of qualified applicants, while overly simplified ones dilute quality.

Our direct-apply system removes unnecessary friction. Candidates complete the process on the same page, without redirects or broken links. Recruiters can still include tailored questions and light pre-screening to improve match quality — but the experience remains quick enough to keep conversion high.

If you want to stay within a fixed cost per applicant, the priority can’t be more impressions.

The priority has to be more intent — delivered through a clean, balanced, and optimised application flow.

2. Geography Shapes Performance

One of the strongest findings from our stress tests is that location dramatically affects funnel efficiency. Not all markets behave the same way, and not all traffic delivers equal value.

When we compared two of our largest European regions, the difference was stark:

• Market A generated nearly three times the impressions of Market B — yet delivered fewer applications relative to that volume.
  
• Market B, with far less top-funnel traffic, still produced a higher total number of completed applications.

What this tells us

Some markets naturally drive visibility, while others naturally drive action. Understanding which type you’re operating in is essential for budget planning.

If you’re working in a Market A–type environment

• High traffic does not equal high intent.
  
• You will need a much broader reach to secure the same number of applicants you’d get in a more efficient market.
  
• When expanding into a region like this, plan for larger top-of-funnel budgets to compensate for weaker conversion rates.

If your market looks more like Market B

• The audience is smaller, but far more motivated.
  
• Conversion is naturally stronger, making it easier to hit a stable cost per applicant with fewer impressions.
  
• You can often maintain efficiency without significant increases in spend.

Read also: B2B Marketing in Recruitment: The Top Trends to Watch in 2026

3. Role Trends: The Truth Behind “Seasonal” Hiring

It’s easy to assume that summer is only about temporary staff and short-term contracts. While our data does show clear seasonal peaks, it also dispels a long-standing myth: white-collar hiring doesn’t stop for the holidays.

For workforce planning, this is a crucial insight. The demand for talent is far steadier throughout the year than most employers expect.

The Roles That Never Slow Down

Across the UK, Germany, France, and Poland, three categories consistently dominated, regardless of country:

• Logistics: Warehouse operatives, forklift drivers (Cariste / Staplerfahrer), and HGV drivers.
  
• Production: Production operatives (Produktionsmitarbeiter) across multiple industries.
  
• Maintenance: Maintenance engineers (Technicien de maintenance) — the most sought-after role in France and a major category in the UK.
  

The Unexpected Findings

• Finance keeps hiring all summer.
  In both France and Germany, roles such as accounting assistants (Collaborateur comptable) and financial accountants (Finanzbuchhalter) appeared in the Top 5. Many companies use the summer months to secure key finance staff ahead of the Q4 workload.
  
• The Dutch exception: flexibility first.
  The Netherlands displayed a different pattern entirely, with top searches like “part-time for 17-year-olds” and remote customer-service jobs. In this market, flexible hours remain the strongest talent attractor.

4. Scaling Your Hiring: Three Practical Steps

Drawing on the trends we observed across millions of interactions, here’s how to shape a strategy that protects your fixed cost per applicant (CPA) while increasing results:

Tailor Your Funnel to Each Market

Avoid treating all regions the same.

• In high-efficiency markets (similar to Market B), direct your efforts towards improving conversion — small tweaks can deliver big gains.
  
• In high-volume markets (similar to Market A), invest in retargeting and repeated touchpoints. Candidates need more reminders and clearer reasons to take the next step.
  

Speed Up the Application Process

The steepest drop-off happens between a click and a completed application. Every extra field, redirect, or login step adds cost.
In fast-moving, high-volume sectors, an application that takes more than two minutes is enough to lose serious candidates — and the money you spent to attract them.

Use Aggregators to Pre-Qualify Intent

Platforms like Jooble help filter interest before a candidate reaches your ATS. By capturing early intent and removing unnecessary friction, you receive applicants who are far more likely to complete the process — improving quality without increasing spend.

Read also: The Secret to Job Ads That Candidates Actually Click: A Recruiter’s Guide

5. Partner with Jooble: Turn Insight into Impact

Data only matters when it helps you hire. At Jooble, we do far more than gather millions of vacancies — we help employers understand the mechanics of their funnel and use those insights to hire smarter.

We support marketing teams, staffing agencies, and in-house recruiters as they navigate what we call the “Volume Paradox.” Instead of simply selling traffic, we work alongside our partners, showing them how to improve each step of their funnel with evidence-based adjustments.

How Jooble helps you scale

Funnel Transparency
We show you exactly where your process performs well and where applicants are dropping off, giving you the clarity to make informed, data-led decisions.

CPA Stability
Our technology — backed by expert support — helps you fill roles quickly while keeping your cost per applicant within a predictable, controlled range.

Quality Over Quantity
By strengthening the journey from impression to application, we ensure you’re not just receiving more candidates — you’re attracting better-matched talent.

Stop guessing where your budget is going. Build a hiring strategy that grows sustainably, without lowering the bar for quality.

Let us show you what’s possible

We’re ready to walk you through the data and help you fill your open roles with the right people, fast.

📩 Contact us: salesteam@jooble.com
Or start posting your vacancies on Jooble today.

Because you don’t always need a bigger funnel — you need a more effective one.