Frontline hiring got slower in 2025. Here’s why.

The Index benchmarks time-to-hire, turnover, cost and compliance risk across nine industry data sets — and pinpoints where the hidden days are going.

2025 against 2024.

Eight numbers from the report, with their change on the year before.

Global median time-to-hire: 38 days Global median time-to-hire +6%
Cost per non-executive hire (SHRM): $5,475 Cost per non-executive hire (SHRM) +16%
Frontline job postings (non-trucking): 4.0M Frontline job postings (non-trucking) +33% YoY
Average frontline hourly wage: $23.86 Average frontline hourly wage +17% YoY
QSR turnover rate: 87% QSR turnover rate +16%
Retail turnover rate: 81% Retail turnover rate +35%
Warehouse turnover rate: 73% Warehouse turnover rate +49%
BIPA class-action settlements: $136.6M BIPA class-action settlements −34%

Time-to-hire, turnover, cost and compliance, plus five trends and predictions for multi-location employers through 2028.

PDF, 3.2 MB. Published by CleoHR, July 2026.