CIMS, a leading talent acquisition software company trusted by the world’s best brands, has officially published the results from its iCIMS Insights June Workforce Report, which was designed to study the state of entry-level hiring as Gen Z navigates a competitive job market governed by economic uncertainty, AI adoption, and largely inconsistent skills-based hiring practices.
Going by the available details, this particular report took into account data from thousands of companies that receive over 200 million applications and make 5.5 million hires annually. Alongside that, the company also leveraged surveys of Gen Z job seekers and talent acquisition professionals.
As for the results, they basically show that entry-level applications are up 22% year over year, aligned with the overall application growth of 21%. Despite that growth, though, overall openings were found to be flat, with hires down by 8% since last May and new graduates currently facing a 6.6% unemployment rate, which is also the highest in a decade, excluding the pandemic, and well above the 4% national average.
Talk about the whole report on a slightly deeper level, we begin by expanding upon the concerns around new graduates. When quizzed regarding why that might be the case, the answer included lacking the right experience or skills (21%), economic uncertainty (19%) and heightened competition for jobs (19%).
Staying on the point of competition, it remained on the higher side specifically for entry-level jobs. This translates to how entry-level job openings received an average of 36 applicants per opening (APO) in May, a 22% uptick from the year prior (29). The overall job market saw a similar jump as it received an average of 34 APO, an 18% increase from the year prior (28).
Within the given uptick, manufacturing emerged as the most popular avenue for candidates. We say so because ICIMS recorded a substantial 37% rise in applications for manufacturing jobs.
Another detail worth a mention is rooted in the disconnect surrounding skill-based hiring. You see, most recruiters (95%) said they use skills-based practices, but at the same time, rank experience (37%) and education (34%) above skills (28%) as the most important factors for assessing entry-level candidates.
Now, while Gen Z is eager to prove their skills as over four out of 10 (44%) said they’d welcome job simulations to showcase what they can do, no more than 30% think employers truly value their skills.
Moving on, over half (56%) of Gen Z expect AI to play a role in future jobs, but a sizeable contingent (44%) is either still not sure or don’t expect to use AI tools at all.
In contrast, if we entrust iCIMS 2025 State of the CHRO Report, 72% of CIOs plan to implement agentic AI in the next 1-3 years. In fact, thirteen percent are targeting implementation in the next 12 months itself.
As they do so, an important 96% of recruiters said it’s likely entry-level workers will manage AI agents in the next two years.
Among other things, we ought to acknowledge that the given survey delivers a rather interesting follow-up to ICIMS’ introduction of ICIMS Agents earlier this month. In case you weren’t aware, ICIMS Agents represent a cutting-edge ecosystem, geared towards accelerating the entire recruiting lifecycle.
“There’s no single narrative for entry-level hiring in 2025,” said Trent Cotton, head of talent acquisition insights at iCIMS. “Some companies are pausing, some are building and others are investing in internal talent. This signals a shift from blanket hiring to business-aligned talent strategies. “With application volume surging, recruiters may default to shortcuts and miss out on candidates with sharper AI instincts than many tenured hires. Forward-thinking companies will tap into the AI native Class of 2025 to boost productivity and modernize workforce skills.”
