Why Hiring Takes Too Long: Causes, With Sources

Last updated: 21 September 2026 · By the Asuraa Team

Why does hiring take too long?

Hiring takes too long mainly because employers add steps, wait on busy people, filter heavily and go quiet between stages. The sources we opened point to process design, and not to anything candidates do.

This post groups the causes into four families and says which claims come from published data and which are our opinion. It is not a recruiter fix list, which is in how to reduce time to hire.

What does the data say about how long hiring takes?

Published numbers are dated and mostly not Indian, so they show a pattern and not a benchmark. Glassdoor's 2015 study of 344,250 interview reviews across six countries reported that the average US interview process took 22.9 days and that processes had grown by 3.3 to 3.7 days since 2009.

Glassdoor's 2017 analysis of 83,921 reviews from 25 countries found India averaged 16.1 days, the shortest, and Brazil 39.6 days, the longest. It linked shorter processes to more flexibility in hiring and firing, and to IT staffing agencies and tech roles popular with new graduates in India.

Indeed says the overall timeline can take up to eight weeks or more. These figures use different methods, so do not compare them to each other.

Why hiring takes too long: what are the four main causes?

There are four families of causes. The table shows each one with the evidence we found and who ends up waiting.

Why do extra steps slow hiring down?

Each added step is a scheduling problem and a wait. Glassdoor's 2015 study says employers increasingly use group panel interviews, candidate presentations, background checks, skills tests and drug tests, and that these lengthen the process.

It also reports that gender, age and education had no statistical effect on interview length, and that the growth came from shifts in employer policies, industry mix and job titles. So the extra days come from what employers choose to add.

Indeed suggests two to three interview rounds as a balance between evaluating candidates and avoiding fatigue. It notes that many employers spend little time per interview: 48% spend 15 to 30 minutes on a full interview. That suggests some rounds may repeat each other, though Indeed does not say so directly.

Why does waiting on people add so much time?

Every step needs a person, and people are busy. This is our observation, since none of the sources we opened measures it directly, but it is a plausible source of delay: interviewers who cannot find a slot, feedback that arrives late and approvals that stall.

For a checklist of the bottlenecks that recruiting-software firms name, and how to log them stage by stage, use how to reduce time to hire. Company practice matters too, since Glassdoor reports that company-specific factors explain about 14.7 percent of the variation in hiring delays.

Why do filters and reused job descriptions slow hiring?

Screening rules can send good candidates away, which can leave employers searching for longer. Harvard Business School's Managing the Future of Work project surveyed 2,275 executives in the US, UK and Germany and reports that 94% of employers acknowledge their systems filter out qualified middle-skills candidates who do not match the exact criteria (88% for high-skills roles).

The same report finds that 72% of employers reuse or slightly modify existing job descriptions for middle-skills roles. Only 19% significantly redesigned them, so requirements pile up over time.

That is US, UK and German data, so we cannot say how far it holds in India. It does show how an unreviewed job description and a strict filter can lengthen a search.

Why do candidates hear nothing for so long?

Silence is the part candidates feel most, and we found no Indian dataset that measures it. Automated status updates are one possible fix, but we found no data on how often candidates go unanswered.

In our opinion, much of the felt delay is uncertainty, not days. A candidate told "you will hear by Friday" is often better off than one who hears nothing for six weeks, even if the total time is the same.

What does this mean for job seekers?

You cannot fix the employer's process, but you can plan for it. These are our suggestions and not sourced.

• Apply to several roles at once. Do not wait on one reply, and keep a simple tracker.
• Ask for the process at the start. How many rounds, and by when will you hear?
• Follow up politely. A short note after the stated date is reasonable.
• Keep your resume clear. Since filters reject people who miss exact criteria, match your resume to the job description accurately. The AI resume reviewer can flag keyword gaps.

What do most explanations of slow hiring get wrong?

Many explanations blame either recruiters or candidates. These are the gaps we see.

• They quote one average. Glassdoor's 2015 and 2017 figures use different data, so a single "average" hides wide variation by country and employer.
• They blame the applicant. Glassdoor found candidate demographics had no effect on interview length.
• They treat delay as inevitable. India's 16.1-day figure in 2017 next to Brazil's 39.6 days shows that process length differs a lot.
• They ignore the human cost. Waiting is hard on candidates, so faster does not have to mean sloppier if the waiting is cut and not the evaluation.

Some ideas for how AI could help are in how AI can reduce hiring time. Asuraa's Blinkit for hiring flow, from Job Discovery to Hiring, is a long-term vision and not something we claim to have delivered.

FAQ

Why does hiring take so long?

Mainly because employers add steps, wait on busy people, filter heavily and go quiet between stages. Glassdoor found interview processes lengthening as employers added tests and checks, and Indeed says timelines can reach eight weeks. The causes are largely process design, so they can be changed.

How long does the hiring process take in India?

We found no reliable current figure. Glassdoor's 2017 analysis of interview reviews put India at 16.1 days, the shortest of 25 countries, but that is dated and self-reported. Measure recent hires for your own role, since timelines vary by employer and role.

Why do companies have so many interview rounds?

Employers add rounds to test different things or to include more decision-makers, and Glassdoor found panels, presentations and tests lengthened processes. Indeed suggests about two to three rounds as a balance between evaluation and candidate fatigue. Extra rounds that repeat each other add delay without new information.

Is slow hiring the candidate's fault?

No evidence we found supports that. Glassdoor's 2015 study found gender, age and education had no statistical effect on interview length. The growth came from employer policies, industry mix and job titles, so the delay sits mainly in the employer's process.

Can slow hiring be fixed?

Yes, in parts. Employers can cut repeated rounds, set feedback deadlines, review filters and job descriptions, and tell candidates when to expect answers. Speed should not come from skipping fair evaluation.

Will AI fix slow hiring?

It can reduce some waiting, such as scheduling and first-pass screening, but it will not fix busy managers or unclear job descriptions. Harvard Business School's data shows filters can also reject qualified people. Treat AI as help for recruiters and keep human review in place.

Final thoughts

Hiring is slow mostly because of choices employers make: more steps, more waiting and blunt filters. That is encouraging, because choices can be changed, but the sources here are dated or non-Indian and should be read as a pattern and not a measurement.

If you are job hunting, check how your resume reads against a real job description with the AI resume reviewer on asuraa.in and browse the jobs page.