Nine independently ratified metrics that give every UK employer, recruiter, and ATS provider a shared basis for measuring recruitment performance. Soft launched at the House of Lords, 19 March 2026.
“Strategy without measurement is aspiration. If we are serious about improving hiring outcomes across the UK, we must underpin the National Hiring Strategy with standardised recruitment metrics that allow organisations to benchmark performance consistently and credibly.”
Adrian Thomas — House of Lords, 19 March 2026The National Hiring Metrics were built in three stages. The data architecture, collection framework, and calculation methodology were developed by Talent Benchmarking, who gifted the metrics to the industry as a free and open standard. The definitions were validated and refined through the RL100 community of UK TA leaders, whose practitioner input shaped the final naming conventions and ensured the standard reflected real-world hiring practice. The metrics were then embedded within the National Hiring Strategy through the Better Hiring Institute, establishing the legislative pathway for national adoption.
Each metric has a consensus definition and a formula agreed by the RL100 community. Use both together: the definition ensures you are measuring the right thing; the formula ensures you are calculating it consistently.
Open positions as a percentage of total organisational headcount.
Number of calendar days between the date a vacancy is formally opened for recruitment by TA and the date a candidate formally accepts a valid offer of employment for that vacancy, regardless of process type or tools used.
Number of calendar days between the date a vacancy is formally opened for recruitment by TA and the date a candidate commences their first day of employment.
Percentage of job offers made that are accepted by candidates. Reported in total and by salary level.
Total recruitment function costs divided by total hires in a period (usually a year). Includes all resourcing spend, technology costs, provider costs, TA headcount costs, and the TA-attributed proportion of wider HR team costs.
Percentage of new hires leaving voluntarily or involuntarily within 12 months of start date.
Percentage of offers accepted and starters generated from each defined sourcing channel.
Total number of candidates interviewed at hiring manager stage divided by total offers made over a 12-month period. Screening calls handled solely by TA are excluded from the candidate count.
Total financial benefit of undertaking recruitment, expressed as revenue attributable to filled roles. Calculated as the daily revenue value of each hire multiplied by how long the role was vacant.
There are three ways to adopt the National Hiring Metrics, depending on where you are in your measurement maturity.
Adopt the nine metric definitions as-is in your internal reporting, job briefs, and ATS configuration. Consistent definitions are the foundation — everything else follows from getting these right.
↓ Download data collection guideOnce you are measuring consistently, compare your results against independently verified sector and size-band benchmarks. Contact Talent Benchmarking to register your interest.
A growing number of ATS providers will offer National Hiring Metrics-native reporting, meaning the metrics are calculated and surfaced automatically from your existing hiring data. Further details will be published at hard launch, 2 July 2026.
Enter your hiring data and see your results instantly — all nine National Hiring Metrics, calculated against the ratified definitions. No spreadsheet, no manual formula, no guesswork.
Free to use. No account required. Enter your data and see your results immediately — then share them with your leadership team, your board, or your hiring managers as a baseline for improvement.
Calculate your metrics now →