Data definitions for the nine metrics

Total number of active permanent vacancies that remain open and have been authorised to recruit (signed off by the business) on the last day of the previous month. An open vacancy is any active vacancy where the candidate has not yet started.

The most up-to-date number of permanent and FTC individuals on the payroll. Excludes contractors and all non-permanent individuals. Covers only the area of the business being benchmarked, not total company headcount unless that is the agreed scope.

The calendar date the requisition was formally signed off by the business and TA began the hiring process. This is not the date the role was advertised or posted — it is the date the vacancy was formally authorised for recruitment internally. Note: this date may differ from the requisition approval or system creation date depending on your ATS configuration.

The calendar date the offer was formally accepted by the successful candidate. This is the date of written or verbal acceptance — not the date the offer was made, and not the date a contract was signed or returned.

See Metric 02. The same open date is used as the start point for both time-based metrics.

The calendar date the successful candidate started in role. This is the contracted start date as defined in the offer letter or contract — the first day of employment. All calculations use calendar days, not working days.

Total number of external permanent and FTC hires made in the twelve months prior to data entry. A permanent employee is someone hired without a pre-determined end date. A FTC employee has a defined end date and is on the monthly payroll. Excludes contractors, temps, and early careers hires. Used as the accepted offers component of the acceptance rate denominator.

Total number of TA-facilitated internal moves made in the twelve months prior to data entry. An internal move is the selection of a candidate from the current workforce to fill a vacancy. Only include moves where TA resource was actively utilised — exclude informal transfers or manager-led moves with no TA involvement.

Whether an offer was made to a candidate who declined it during the hiring of this requisition, prior to the successful hire. Only accepted and declined offers relating to the same vacancy are counted. A non-response — where a candidate neither formally accepts nor formally declines — is excluded from both totals. The count of HD14 = Yes across all hires produces the total declined offers figure used in the acceptance rate calculation.

Annual basic salary awarded to the successful candidate, excluding bonus, sign-on fee, and benefits. Used to assign each hire — and any associated declined offer on the same requisition — to a salary band, enabling the acceptance rate to be reported by band. Provided in the local currency of the employment country.

Total actual spend held by the HR or Resourcing function. Includes agency fees, advertising costs, selection costs, and technology costs. Excludes headcount costs (captured separately in FD10). Only include spend within the agreed benchmarking scope.

Total actual recruitment spend held by the business or hiring managers outside the TA function, for the recruitment of permanent and FTC individuals. Includes agency fees and advertising costs held by the business rather than the TA team.

Spend held elsewhere in the business on resourcing systems or technology — for example, ATS or careers site costs held by IT rather than by the TA team.

Total amount spent on an Exclusive Outsource or Hybrid provider in the last 12 months (fixed and variable costs combined), taken from the month of data entry. Only applicable where an RPO has been actively engaged. Do not include the allocated budget — only actual spend.

Total salary and average bonus budget for the experienced hire dedicated TA team — permanent and contract employees who sit within the TA function. Excludes RPO and hybrid onsite provider employees and HR colleagues who deliver TA services as part of a broader remit. Part-time or split-responsibility roles should be represented proportionally.

HR3 is the total salary spend for HR Advisers who dedicate some or all of their time to TA activity. HR2 is the percentage of their collective time dedicated to TA. The product (HR3 × HR2) gives the TA-attributed cost of this group and is included in the total recruitment function cost.

HR6 is the total salary spend for HR Business Partners who dedicate some or all of their time to TA. HR5 is the percentage of their collective time dedicated to TA. The product gives the TA-attributed cost of this group.

HR9 is the total salary spend for HR Managers who dedicate some or all of their time to TA. HR8 is the percentage of their collective time dedicated to TA. The product gives the TA-attributed cost of this group.

See Metric 04. HV2 (external hires) + HV3 (internal moves) = total hires. This is the denominator for Cost per Starter.

Total number of hires who left within 12 months of joining the business, including those leaving for reasons of redundancy and performance management. Typically sourced from an HR headcount report containing start and termination dates. To confirm whether the leaver was a new hire, cross-reference against the filled requisition report from the ATS.

See Metric 04. Total hires (HV2 + HV3) is the denominator for the attrition rate calculation.

The sourcing channel through which the successful candidate was identified. Where an exact match cannot be found, use the closest available standard category. Standard channels: Temp-to-Perm, Referral, LinkedIn, Job Board, Direct Source, Agency, Website, Alumni, Events, Unaccountable.

See Metric 04. Total hires is the denominator for each channel's percentage calculation.

The total number of candidates who completed at least one interview or assessment stage conducted by or involving the hiring manager for this requisition, regardless of outcome. Includes candidates who were interviewed but not offered the role. Excludes candidates screened solely by TA who did not progress to hiring manager stage. Each unique candidate counts once per requisition, regardless of how many stages they completed.

See Metric 04. Accepted offers (total starters) form part of the Total Offers Made denominator alongside declined offers (HV4).

Actual number of verbal and written offers declined by candidates in the last 12 months. Combined with total starters (HV2 + HV3) to produce Total Offers Made, which is the denominator for this metric. A non-response is not counted as a declined offer.

Total number of interview or assessment stages the successfully hired candidate completed. This is the data point currently collected in V19 and measures average interview stages per hire — a related but different calculation to the National Hiring Metrics metric. It will remain in the spec alongside HD16 once HD16 is added.

The most up-to-date revenue figure as used by the Finance department, covering only the area of the business under review. Revenue is the total amount received for goods sold or services provided — including net sales, asset exchanges, and interest — calculated before expenses are subtracted.

See Metric 01. Used alongside FD2 to calculate total headcount for the revenue-per-employee-per-day figure.

The most up-to-date number of non-permanent individuals (contractors etc.) on the books. Combined with FD1 to form total headcount for the revenue-per-employee calculation. Total headcount = FD1 + FD2.

Number of calendar days in the year (365). Used to convert the annual revenue-per-employee figure to a daily rate: FD3 ÷ (FD1 + FD2) ÷ FD4 = revenue per employee per day. Calendar days are used throughout all National Hiring Metrics calculations to ensure comparability across regions with different public holiday arrangements.

See Metric 02. Used alongside HD10 to calculate Time to Offer Accepted per hire, which is averaged across all hires to produce the time variable in the financial impact calculation.

See Metric 02. The financial impact calculation uses Time to Offer Accepted (HD10 − HD9) as the vacancy duration — the period during which the role was generating no revenue. This is distinct from Time to Start (HD11 − HD9), which includes the notice period after offer acceptance.

See Metric 04. Total hires is the volume multiplier in the financial impact calculation.