[Joveo Insights] Intense Competition for Warehouse Workers Inflates Applicant Sourcing Costs Despite Growing Job Seeker Interest

Consumers have never before shopped online as much as they do today.

The e-commerce industry has been booming since the beginning of the pandemic last year, when mandated lockdowns and health concerns forced consumers to shift to an online mode of living. Of course, this meant e-commerce businesses needed to hire warehouse workers in large volumes in order to reinforce their supply chain operations and meet the increased consumer demand. 

A LinkedIn report states that hiring for warehouse workers in the U.S. increased by 73% year-on-year in 2020. In 2021, this trend rings further true due to a revitalized economy, following the large-scale administration of vaccines across the U.S. population and rolling back of lockdowns in the country. 

As demand for warehouse workers rebounds to record levels, e-commerce employers are under the heat of intense competition as they look to fill these jobs quickly. Unless these positions are filled up fast, supply chain disruptions will become commonplace in the very near term.

At Joveo, we analyzed the millions of jobs powered by our advanced programmatic job advertising platform to unearth insights on the level of demand for warehouse workers, job seeker interest, as well as how they translate to rising applicant sourcing costs for employers.  

So if you’re looking to hire warehouse workers, here’s what you need to know before you place your next job ad.

Employers are bidding as aggressively as ever to drive traffic to their jobs

The average cost per click (CPC) soared from $0.6 in November 2020 to $4.2 in June 2021 – a seven-fold increase in just six months! This is indicative of how desperate e-commerce employers are to source more warehouse workers today.

The click-to-apply (CTA) ratios, on the other hand, are on a happy rise – meaning job seekers are answering the employer’s call. More candidates that click on job ads are completing the application forms. Nearly 10% more clicks converted to applicants in June 2021 compared to November 2020. So, while each click is expensive, it takes fewer clicks to arrive at a potentially hirable candidate. 

The nearly 283% increase is a welcome sign, indicating that with the right incentive and job ad visibility, you stand a good chance of attracting the right talent for your jobs.

However, that does not necessarily translate to lower applicant sourcing costs.

Employers need to shell out more dollars per applicant to be competitive

The average cost per applicant (CPA) for warehouse workers has risen sharply from $15.9 in November last year to $31.3 in June this year.

Essentially, while average CTA rates have improved, they haven’t at a rate that can eclipse the meteoric rise in the average CPC – resulting in rising CPA rates. Simply put, if you’re looking to hire warehouse workers today, you have your work cut out for you if you have a restricted budget. 

So, what can you do?

Access the right data to know where you stand and set your own expectations accordingly. It’s not always about beating your competition on price (read, sourcing costs), but on ensuring you attract the best talent at the right volume and at the right time. 

In a candidate’s market, it’s essential that you leverage your data-backed insights at scale to intelligently automate and optimize your recruitment advertising decisions in order to find and attract the more relevant candidates for your jobs. 

To find out how effortlessly you can race ahead of the hunt for warehouse workers today, reach out to us right away!