SHRM Releases 2025 Benchmarking Reports: How Does Your Organization Compare?

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – SHRM, the trusted global authority on work, workers, and the workplace, today announced the release of four comprehensive HR benchmarking reports for 2025. These reports provide actionable data across the HR industry, covering CHRO Metrics, Learning and Development, Recruiting, and Talent Management, enabling organizations to measure their performance against industry standards. SHRM members can access these reports at: shrm.org/benchmarking.

Comprehensive Benchmarking for HR Leaders

The new reports feature 88 individual data sets – spanning overall, industry groupings, sectors, organization sizes, and regions – offering HR executives and professionals a robust framework for comparison. This study updates SHRM’s prior benchmarking studies from 2022, reflecting the latest trends and priorities in the HR landscape.

Among the range of findings the research found is that executive hires are, on average, nearly 7x more expensive than nonexecutive hires, which can drive ROI analyses and inform budgeting for leadership recruitment. Top skills required within the next 5 years place critical thinking at 71%. It also found that the process from job posting to offer acceptance is highly segmented, with screening and interviewing alone averaging 8–9 days each. Talent acquisition remains a major investment area.

“This data represents a valuable asset for any organization. Accessing not only comprehensive reports but also detailed segmentations—such as breakdowns by organization size, industry, sector, and region,” said Daniel Stunes, Manager of Data Monetization, SHRM. Our offering delivers these insights efficiently and cost-effectively, empowering organizations to make informed, strategic decisions.”

Key findings from the Learning & Development benchmarking report include:

Learning and Development Budget as a Percentage of Total HR Budget

• Median: 15%
• Average: 20%
• 75th Percentile: 25%

External Training Spend as a Percentage of Total L&D Expenses

• Median: 25%
• Average: 38%
• 75th Percentile: 60%

Key findings from the Recruiting benchmarking report include:

Recruiting Budget as Percentage of HR Budget

• Average: 26% of the total HR budget is allocated to recruiting
• Range: 25th percentile is 10%, median is 20%, and 75th percentile is 39%

Cost-per-Hire

• Nonexecutive Average: $5,475
• Executive Average: $35,879

Quality of Hire Measurement

• Only 20% of organizations track the quality of hire.

Methodology

The 2025 SHRM Benchmarking Survey was conducted through an electronically fielded survey from a random sample of active SHRM Members between Jan. 9 and March 3, 2025. Given the robust data collected in this research, an additional stratified sampling approach was implemented to oversample members who held a vice president or higher position within their organization. In total, 2,371 members responded to the survey. The data were not weighted, and respondents were not required to provide data on every metric, meaning the sample size for each individual metric may vary. Respondents represent a diverse range of industries, sectors, and organization sizes across the U.S.  

SHRM Benchmarking Survey, SHRM, 2025

About SHRM

SHRM is a member-driven catalyst for creating better workplaces where people and businesses thrive together. As the trusted authority on all things work, SHRM is the foremost expert, researcher, advocate, and thought leader on issues and innovations impacting today’s evolving workplaces. With nearly 340,000 members in 180 countries, SHRM touches the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally. Discover more at SHRM.org.