Job offer acceptance rate falls to 48%, lowest in over two years

Forty-eight percent of job candidates accepted their most recent job offer – a significant decrease from 54% in 4Q24 and 85% in 4Q23, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc, a business and technology insights company.

In December 2025, Gartner surveyed 3,072 employees and found that 30% said they would prefer staying at their current job due to economic volatility, even if they were to receive a better offer. This hesitation is even stronger among highly skilled employees, who are 39% more likely than less skilled employees to stay in their current role.

“While hiring is down overall, organizations are still hiring for a smaller set of roles that are critical and much harder to fill. At the same time, candidates are more reluctant to switch jobs right now,” said Jamie Kohn, Senior Director Analyst in the Gartner HR practice. “CHROs need to build higher-touch candidate engagement strategies for critical roles, with a clear narrative on why changing jobs is worth the risk.”

Signs of frozen talent are also masking future risks. While employees are staying in their roles today, a 1Q26 Gartner survey of 11,838 employees found lower intent to stay in their roles, with intent to stay down 19% over the past two years, signaling potential for attrition when market confidence improves.

These dynamics require CHROs to adapt talent strategies by prioritizing internal mobility, shifting focus toward quality of hire over volume, and clearly defining which strategically critical roles are worth additional compensation and high-touch engagement.

“Many organizations are interpreting lower attrition as a positive sign,” said Kohn. “In reality, employees are prioritizing stability over potential career upsides. To succeed in this environment, organizations need to adjust how they position roles by emphasizing stability, team continuity and long-term development to reassure candidates about accepting an offer.”

AI is reshaping candidate expectations
Candidates are placing greater weight on opportunities to build AI skills, increasingly evaluating roles based on whether they provide the development needed to remain relevant as AI reshapes work. Particularly for organizations struggling to convert top candidates, AI skill development opportunities can be a powerful attractor.

AI interviews are also gaining traction, however, according to a 3Q25 Gartner survey of 254 job candidates, only 30% of candidates are open to AI-led interviews, and just 31% were informed in advance that they would be participating in one.

Candidates’ perceptions of the AI interview experience

To address these dynamics, organizations must clearly communicate AI-enabled hiring processes and elevate AI skills development opportunities within employee value propositions to better align with evolving candidate expectations.

“AI interviews can work, but the experience breaks down when candidates are surprised by them or cannot get basic questions answered,” said Kohn. “Setting expectations early and keeping the process clear is critical to preventing candidates from dropping out of the hiring process.” Gartner