Healthcare recruiting has always been uniquely challenging, but in 2025, it became its own universe. Apply rates dropped while cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-application (CPA) rose. And cost‑per‑hire continues to sit at the very top of the occupational landscape.
If you’re hiring nurses, clinical staff, or allied health professionals in 2026, here’s what our data shows.
Even as the broader labor market softened, healthcare hiring costs stayed stubbornly high. Why?
Because the problem is supply, not demand.
There simply aren’t enough qualified healthcare workers to fill the volume of open roles. Low apply rates push CPAs higher, and even when applications come in, conversion is hard. Screening requires credentials, licensing, and role‑specific experience — all of which gate the candidate pool.
Healthcare’s high CPH reflects scarcity, not recruiter inefficiency.
Apply rates for “sitting down” roles climbed sharply in 2025, but healthcare continued to trend downward.
That divergence shows two things:
Healthcare workers are still in demand everywhere. The labor market slowdown didn’t reach them.
If you’re competing for RNs, CNAs, medical assistants, or technicians, expect the competition to remain crowded.
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