In a tight labor market, speed matters as much as quality.
That’s why time to fill is a critical hiring metric as it tracks the days from job requisition approval to offer acceptance, helping you:
- Boost recruitment efficiency
- Lower hiring costs
- Better plan your workforce needs
In this article, we cover what time to fill is, how it differs from time to hire, why it matters, how to calculate it, and 11 ways to reduce it.
What is Time to Fill?
Time to fill is a foundational recruiting metric that measures the total number of calendar days it takes to fill a job vacancy — from the moment a role is officially approved (or opened) to the moment a candidate accepts the offer.
It captures the full duration of the hiring process and serves as a KPI for workforce planning, recruitment efficiency, and organizational agility.
7 Reasons Why Time to Fill Is Important
Time to fill says a lot about how efficient your hiring process is, how prepared you are to staff critical roles, and how well you attract talent.
1. Supports Workforce Planning
Knowing how long it takes to hire helps HR teams align recruitment with business needs, prevent staffing gaps, and plan ahead for critical roles.
2. Reduces Operational Disruption
Open roles can strain your team and drive up costs. Filling positions faster helps keep work moving and limits the impact on productivity and revenue.
3. Improves Candidate Experience
When the hiring process drags, candidates lose interest — and your reputation can take a hit. A smooth, responsive approach keeps top talent engaged and more likely to say yes.
4. Identifies Process Bottlenecks
Time to fill highlights inefficiencies in sourcing, approvals, or hiring manager coordination — helping you target and fix delays.
5. Secures Top Talent
High-quality candidates often receive multiple offers. A shorter time to fill improves your chances of hiring them before competitors do.
6. Lowers Hiring Costs
Long hiring cycles increase expenses across job ads, overtime, and temporary coverage. Streamlining your process reduces cost per hire.
7. Tracks Market Responsiveness
Time to fill helps you adapt to changing labor conditions, skill shortages, or talent trends by showing how fast you can act when demand shifts.
How to Calculate Time to Fill
Calculating this metric consistently helps you track efficiency, benchmark performance, and identify bottlenecks in your hiring process.
Here’s everything you need to know to calculate your time to fill.
What is the Formula of Time to Fill?
Before performing the calculation, you must decide what counts as the beginning and end of the time to fill period. Consistency is crucial across all roles and departments.
Common starting points include:
- When a hiring manager submits a job requisition
- Approval of the job opening by HR or finance
- Posting the position to a public job board
Common end points include:
- When the candidate accepts the job offer
- Signing of the employment contract
- In some cases, the candidate’s official start date
Once you’ve defined your start and end points, you can measure time to fill for individual roles or compute an average across multiple hires.
How to Calculate Time to Fill for One Role
To figure out time to fill for a single position, count the number of calendar days between when the job was opened and when the candidate accepted the offer:
Time to fill = Offer acceptance date – Job posting date
Let’s put this formula into practice with an example.
If a job was posted on March 3 and the candidate accepted the offer on March 20, the time to fill would be:
March 20 – March 3 = 17 days
That means it took 17 days to fill that specific role.
How to Calculate Average Time to Fill
Calculating the average time to fill helps you assess your team’s hiring efficiency across all roles within a given period such as monthly, quarterly, or annually:
Average Time to Fill = (Sum of all time to fill values) ÷ (Number of roles filled)
Let’s use another example to illustrate.
If five roles were filled in a quarter with the following durations (15, 25, 30, 20, and 40 days) your average time to fill is:
(15 + 25 + 30 + 20 + 40) ÷ 5 = 26 days
This average provides a high-level snapshot of your overall recruitment efficiency.
Calculating Time to Fill by a Specific Role or Department
To gain more targeted insights, you can also calculate time to fill by role type or department.
This helps identify functions or positions with above-average hiring delays.
Formula:
Time to Fill (Category) = Total days to fill roles in category ÷ Number of roles filled in category
Here’s another example.
If you’re evaluating the engineering department and filled three roles in 25, 35, and 45 days respectively:
(25 + 35 + 45) ÷ 3 = 35 days
Tracking time to fill by category helps prioritize process improvements where they’re most needed.
Here’s some pro tips for achieving as accurate of a measurement as possible:
- Exclude always-open roles (like junior sales reps or customer support agents) to avoid inflating your average
- Break down by stage if the total metric seems high. For example, sourcing vs interview-to-offer time
- Use automation tools like an ATS to standardize tracking and ensure consistency
What’s a Good Benchmark for Time to Fill?
Understanding what qualifies as a good time to fill depends on multiple factors, including industry, role complexity, geography, and internal processes.
While averages can serve as useful reference points, benchmarks must be contextualized to be truly actionable.
Industry and Global Averages
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that it takes about 42 days, on average, to fill a position across industries in the United States.
However, this figure masks wide variation across sectors and geographies. For instance, Workable data shows that engineering roles often take 58–62 days, while positions in hospitality may be filled in just 28 days.
How to Benchmark Internally
To make time to fill meaningful within your organization, consider the following approach:
- Track your historical performance to identify trends over time
- Segment by role type and department. Don’t compare engineering hires with customer support
- Localize your benchmarks as Labor market conditions vary by region. Compare city-by-city or country-by-country if relevant
- Pair time to fill with quality of hire, offer acceptance rate, and turnover to create a holistic picture
11 Ways to Reduce Time to Fill
Reducing your time to fill not only improves recruitment efficiency — it also minimizes business disruption, lowers costs, and helps you secure talent faster.
Below are strategic ways to reduce time to fill without compromising candidate quality or experience.
1. Build a Talent Pipeline in Advance
Starting from scratch for every open role adds unnecessary delays. Proactively creating and nurturing a talent pool gives you quick access to pre-qualified candidates. You can build your pipeline by:
- Re-engaging strong candidates from past roles
- Connecting with passive talent via events or platforms like GitHub and LinkedIn
- Staying in touch with company alumni and former interns
- Capturing leads from your careers page using signup forms or gated content
2. Strengthen Your Employer Brand
A well-defined employer brand helps attract candidates who already see your company as a great place to work — cutting down the time it takes to engage and convert them. To build your brand:
- Add employee stories or testimonials to your careers page
- Keep your profiles up to date on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and other review sites
- Share content that highlights your team culture, values, and perks
3. Streamline the Application and Screening Process
If the application process is too long or unclear, qualified candidates may drop out before you’ve had a chance to connect. Here’s how to keep things on track:
- Add simple screening questions to weed out unqualified applicants
- Use AI tools to prioritize resumes based on key criteria
- Set a clear, consistent checklist for evaluating qualifications across roles
4. Optimize Interview Scheduling and Structure
Long interview processes are one of the biggest contributors to extended time to fill. Speed up this phase with better coordination and technology. Optimization strategies include:
- Reducing the number of interview rounds where possible
- Using structured interview templates to standardize evaluations
- Automating scheduling with tools that sync to hiring team calendars
- Conducting batch interviews or interview days for faster turnaround
5. Improve Cross-Functional Collaboration
Slow hiring often stems from poor coordination between recruiters, HR, and hiring managers. Clear communication and shared accountability can speed things up. To improve alignment:
- Set roles and responsibilities from the start
- Schedule regular check-ins to stay on track and clear blockers
- Centralize feedback using an ATS or shared workspace
6. Accelerate the Offer Stage
Delays at the offer stage can cost you top talent. Once you’ve found the right candidate, move quickly to close the deal. Make it faster by:
- Using pre-approved salary bands and offer templates
- Aligning on compensation expectations early in the process
- Delivering verbal offers first to keep momentum
- Setting offer deadlines to encourage timely decisions
7. Leverage Automation and Technology
Manual tasks like resume screening, interview scheduling, and follow-ups slow the hiring process. Automating repetitive workflows gives your team more time to focus on strategy and candidate engagement. Recruitment tech that reduces time to fill:
- Applicant tracking systems (ATS)
- Pre-employment assessment tools
- Chatbots and automated email responders
- Video and asynchronous interview platforms
8. Create a Structured, Data-Driven Process
A clearly defined hiring workflow helps reduce confusion and ensures all team members follow the same efficient steps. To implement structure:
- Map the end-to-end process, from requisition to onboarding
- Set SLAs for each stage like 48 hours to submit feedback post-interview
- Track time spent in each phase to identify areas for improvement
9. Communicate Clearly with Candidates
When candidates are left in the dark, they’re more likely to lose interest — or drop out entirely. Clear, consistent communication keeps them engaged and builds trust throughout the process. To stay candidate-friendly:
- Set clear expectations about timelines from the start
- Share updates after each stage — even if there’s a delay
- Provide interview prep materials and leave time for their questions
10. Continuously Measure and Improve
Improving time to fill is an ongoing effort. Monitoring your metrics and making data-informed decisions will help you refine your approach over time. Track these metrics alongside time to fill:
- Time per stage
- Candidate satisfaction
- Offer acceptance rate
- Source-to-hire efficiency
11. Use a Recruitment Agency (Like TalentHub)
Working with a recruitment agency like TalentHub can speed up hiring — especially for niche roles or high-volume needs. Agencies offer access to pre-screened talent, market expertise, and hands-on support to keep your hiring process moving efficiently.
Benefits include:
- Faster access to qualified talent
- Support for niche or specialized roles
- Expert salary and market guidance
- Hands-off scheduling and candidate follow-up
Outsourcing parts of the process frees your team to focus on strategy — while boosting both speed and quality of hire.