February workforce data: Applicant volume is up, so why aren’t hires keeping pace?

February 20, 2026

 

Trent Cotton

5 min read

The iCIMS Insights February Workforce Report shows that applicant and opening activity is rebounding, but hiring continues to lag. This is creating a widening gap between interest and jobs being filled. In this month’s report, we explore this dynamic in healthcare, where openings and applications are recovering faster than hires, creating persistent conversion friction.

• Applicant interest is outpacing hires.Candidate applications and job openings are rebounding, but hires are not keeping up, which means more people are raising their hand than employers are actually bringing on board.
• 2026 is starting softer than 2025, not crashing.January shows the usual seasonal uptick, but the year‑over‑year increase in applications and openings is smaller than last year, pointing to a cooler, more cautious start rather than a sharp downturn.
• Healthcare is a demand hot spot with a conversion problem.  Healthcare openings and applications are recovering and even surpassing last year in some cases, yet hires still lag, echoing national JOLTS data where healthcare openings consistently exceed hires.
• APO at a series high means a near‑term buyer’s market.  Applications per opening have reached their highest point in the recent trend, giving employers more qualified candidates per requisition—but also increasing the risk of bottlenecks if teams don’t respond quickly enough.

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Applicant interest is rising faster than hires

February data builds on strong December momentum, with job openings and applications elevated compared to last year while hiring trails behind. This suggests employers are still cautious about committing to new headcount, using slower conversion and fewer backfills rather than broad cuts to cool demand.

Applicants per opening remained relatively flat as time to fill continued its upward trend beginning in December of last year. For talent leaders, this means more qualified shortlists per role, but also greater risk that candidates stall in the funnel if teams do not keep pace with the volume.

A softer start to 2026, not a collapse

The typical January bump is present in the three-core metrics, but year‑over‑year gains in applications and openings are smaller than they were heading into 2025, pointing to a softer start. This aligns with national indicators showing fewer openings and slower hiring even as overall economic growth remains solid.

Month‑over‑month, activity has rebounded from the sharp November 2025 contraction and strengthened further into early 2026, but the recovery has not yet closed the gap in year‑over‑year openings and hires. The result is a labor market that feels cooler from a hiring perspective while remaining competitive from a candidate’s point of view.

Healthcare is a bright spot with a conversion problem

In healthcare, iCIMS clinical trends show all three core metrics rebounding year over year, with a particularly strong month‑over‑month jump in candidate applications. Openings have continued the upward trend that began in December and have now pushed past the same period in 2025, confirming a slight increase in employer demand.

However, hires remain below last year’s levels, mirroring Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS data that shows healthcare openings consistently exceeding hires nationwide. This reinforces that the hire‑rate lag in iCIMS data is not an isolated signal; it reflects structural constraints in clinical hiring capacity, decision speed, and candidate‑to‑hire yield.

The rise in Healthcare APO creates both opportunity and risk

APO hitting a series high, after softening slightly in late 2025, could signal candidate supply per requisition has improved, giving employers more room to raise the quality bar without necessarily sacrificing speed. Because openings have been slower to recover than applications and hires, the higher APO confirms a near‑term buyer’s market dynamic in many roles.

Those dynamics carry real operational risk. If apply‑to‑screen rates, interview capacity per recruiter, time‑to‑first‑response, and offer acceptance do not improve alongside APO, requisition aging will rise and the year‑over‑year hiring gap will persist despite abundant candidate interest. Talent teams must treat APO as a signal to tune their processes, not just a comfort metric about pipeline health.

What leaders should do now

When applicant volume rises faster than hiring, the winning strategy is to focus recruiters on speed‑to‑decision and offer acceptance so that surplus interest does not sit idle in the funnel. In nonclinical roles in particular, talent still holds the advantage and will choose employers that respond quickly, communicate clearly, and move decisively through the process.

Leaders should pressure‑test four pressure points: screening throughput, interview capacity per recruiter, time‑to‑first‑response, and offer‑to‑start conversion. Tightening these levers helps close the gap between openings, applications, and hires, turning February’s elevated applicant activity into actual workforce momentum rather than unused supply.

Call to action

To see the full breakdown of February workforce data—including updated month‑over‑month and year‑over‑year trends, sector‑specific signals, and the latest APO insights—download the iCIMS February Workforce Report.