Technology

iHire Publishes 2024 State of Online Recruiting Report & Survey Results

Published

2 years ago

August 20, 2024

Sixth annual research report shares insights from survey of 2,200+ U.S. employers and job seekers on trends including AI adoption and talent shortages

FREDERICK, Md., Aug. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — iHire has published its 2024 State of Online Recruiting Report, offering an inside look into the hiring and job search trends shaping talent acquisition including AI adoption, talent shortages, job board usage, and more. Sharing the results of a survey of 1,637 job seekers and 586 employers across the United States and from 57 industries, the sixth annual research report is now available here: http://www.iHire.com/SOOR24.

Our annual report aims to advise hiring professionals on how to best attract the right talent, whether that means testing new recruitment technologies, leveraging AI, growing their employer brand, improving the candidate experience, or all of the above. –Steve Flook, President & CEO, iHire

Key findings and data points detailed in the iHire’s report include the following:

AI usage in recruitment has increased threefold year-over-year.

14.7% of employers said they are currently using AI in their recruitment efforts, up from 4.9% who said the same in 2023 – a 200% increase.Job seekers have also amplified their AI adoption: In 2024, 17.3% of candidates surveyed said they had used AI tools in the past year to write their resume or cover letter, up from 2.8% who said the same in 2023 – a 518% increase.

Talent shortages persist despite a more stable labor market and steady hiring needs.

63.3% of employers cited receiving too many unqualified applicants as one of their biggest recruiting challenges; 39.1% said the same about receiving too few applicants.63.1% of companies expect a talent shortage/lack of qualified candidates to impact their ability to hire in the next year.59.9% of organizations increased hiring in 2024; only 15.9% of employers anticipate budget cuts and 4.6% expect layoffs in the next 12 months.

Job seekers are more concerned than employers with external factors, such as the U.S. economy and election, impacting the employment landscape.

45.3% of candidates believe economic uncertainty will impact their job search or career growth in the coming year, compared to 34.0% of employers who said the economy will affect their ability to hire.17.1% of candidates and 8.7% of employers were concerned about political discourse in the workplace due to the U.S. election.

Job boards remain relevant as they evolve to meet employers’ and job seekers’ needs.

68.1% of companies said they use job boards/recruitment platforms for “all” or “most” of their hiring, and 34.3% expect their use to increase in the coming year.67.0% of candidates applied for a role through a job board in the past year.69.7% of job seekers always visit a hiring company’s website before applying for a role they find on a job board, suggesting job boards are critical sources for initially attracting talent and raising brand awareness.

Communication between candidates and employers is broken, complicating the recruitment process.

54.7% of candidates said not hearing back from employers/getting ghosted was among their top job search challenges.45.0% of job seekers believe getting ghosted by employers will affect their ability to find work in the coming year.Employers cited unresponsive applicants as their second most significant hiring challenge (51.0%).

“Finding qualified candidates has been one of employers’ chief challenges every year we’ve conducted our State of Online Recruiting Report research, regardless of the economic climate or status of the job market,” said Steve Flook, iHire’s President and CEO. “Our annual report aims to advise hiring professionals on how to best attract the right talent, whether that means testing new recruitment technologies, leveraging AI, growing their employer brand, improving the candidate experience, or all of the above.”

Read iHire’s 2024 State of Online Recruiting Report here: http://www.iHire.com/SOOR24.

Research Methodology
iHire surveyed 1,637 job seekers and 586 employers from across the U.S. and from 57 industries in June 2024 via the Qualtrics XM platform. Respondents came from iHire’s job seeker and employer databases. All decimal points are rounded to the nearest tenth. For many questions, multiple answers could be selected, so percentages add up to a sum greater than 100%. In some instances, survey questions were skipped by an individual respondent.

About iHire
iHire is a leading career-oriented employment platform that powers a family of 57 industry-focused talent networks, including WorkInSports, iHireVeterinary, iHireDental, iHireConstruction, and iHireChefs. For more than 20 years, iHire has combined advanced job matching technology with our expertise in the talent acquisition space to connect job seekers with employers in their desired sector. With an industry-specific, candidate-centric, and data-driven approach to recruitment, iHire helps candidates find meaningful work and employers find unique, high-quality talent – faster, easier, and more effectively than a general job board. Visit http://www.iHire.com for more information.

Media Contact

Kristina Kelly, iHire, 18777984854, kristina.kelly@ihire.com, https://www.ihire.com

Kristina Kelly, iHire, +18777984854, kristina.kelly@ihire.com

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SOURCE iHire

Technology

eSign.AI Named Sole Electronic Signature Technology Provider for Hong Kong Government’s CorpID Project, Building the Foundation for Digital Signing Infrastructure in Hong Kong

Published

7 hours ago

May 8, 2026

HONG KONG, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As Hong Kong’s Digital Corporate Identity Platform (CorpID) counts down to its phased launch, eSign.AI has been appointed as the sole electronic signature vendor in the project, responsible for delivering core digital signing capabilities including digital signatures, certificate management, and signature verification services. CorpID is led by Nexify, a seasoned government systems integrator, as the prime contractor. The platform is expected to launch in phases starting late 2026, with multiple CorpID-based e-government services going live in mid-2027.

CorpID: Government-Grade Digital Identity Infrastructure for Hong Kong Enterprises

The Digital Corporate Identity Platform (CorpID) is an enterprise-level digital services platform launched by the Hong Kong SAR Government, developed under the oversight of the Digital Policy Office (DPO). It is designed to serve as the business equivalent of “iAM Smart,” providing a unified digital identity foundation for Hong Kong enterprises. CorpID’s core mission is to build an integrated digital government infrastructure — offering unified identity authentication, digital signing, form pre-filling, and e-licence storage — replacing paper-heavy, cumbersome traditional processes and enabling smart city development through seamless data connectivity.

The platform is open to companies incorporated under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) and businesses registered under the Business Registration Ordinance (Cap. 310), including sole proprietorships and partnerships. The DPO requires all enterprise-related e-government services to support CorpID within 18 months of launch, and will continue expanding ecosystem coverage through sandbox initiatives, cross-industry identity standard interoperability, and fully online registration processes.

eSign.AI: The Digital Signing Engine Behind CorpID

eSign.AI is an AI-native electronic signature and contract automation platform built for enterprises worldwide, offering a complete signing framework from simple electronic signatures to the highest-level compliant digital signatures — meeting diverse regulatory requirements across industries and jurisdictions.

On the identity verification front, eSign.AI has completed integration with iAM Smart, enabling individual identity verification through Hong Kong’s citizen digital identity system, and providing legally valid digital certificate services for both enterprises and individuals.

Looking ahead, the eSign.AI SaaS platform will be deeply integrated with CorpID, providing enterprise and individual identity verification for Hong Kong businesses, and supporting both electronic and digital signing that complies with Hong Kong’s Electronic Transactions Ordinance — connecting the full digital contracting lifecycle for government and enterprise alike.

Getting Ahead of the AI Era: From eSignGlobal to eSign.AI

The electronic signature industry is undergoing a structural shift from “tooling” to “intelligence.” Market data underscores this acceleration: the AI-powered contract analysis tools market has grown from USD 3.32 billion in 2025 to USD 4.3 billion in 2026, at a CAGR of 29.6%. Signing is just one node in the contract lifecycle — document generation, workflow orchestration, compliance tracking, and post-execution management are all being transformed by AI, and the industry window is closing fast.

In April 2026, the company officially rebranded from eSignGlobal to eSign.AI, completing its strategic transformation from an e-signature tool provider to an AI-native contract automation platform. As the company’s spokesperson noted, this rebrand is not cosmetic — it is an acknowledgment of where the product actually is. Customers were already using eSign.AI to automate workflows that go far beyond the signature itself.

eSign Automation Skill was launched alongside the rebrand — an AI-powered signing automation framework for enterprise workflows that enables complete contract signing through natural language interaction, with no manual intervention required. Whether it is single-party approval, multi-party sequential signing, or large-scale parallel execution, an AI Agent can orchestrate the entire workflow in a single call. All signature initiations and status queries return structured JSON outputs, directly parseable by leading large language models and intelligent workflow systems.

eSign Automation is now available in the OpenClaw ecosystem and supports integration via Claude MCP, ChatGPT, and other leading AI platforms.

By combining AI automation capabilities with CorpID’s government-grade digital identity infrastructure, eSign.AI delivers a complete solution for Hong Kong enterprises — from identity verification to intelligent signing to full workflow automation.

About eSign.AI

eSign.AI (formerly eSignGlobal) is an AI-native electronic signature and contract automation platform built for enterprises worldwide. The platform serves over 100 countries and regions, covering core industries including financial services, manufacturing, real estate, human resources, and healthcare — with 1,500+ scenario applications and 3,000+ ecosystem partners. eSign.AI holds ISO 27001, ISO 27701, and ISO 27018 certifications and supports major regulatory frameworks including the U.S. ESIGN Act / UETA, EU eIDAS, HIPAA, GDPR, and 21 CFR Part 11. Infrastructure is anchored by independent data centers in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Frankfurt, Germany.

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SOURCE eSignGlobal

Technology

The 9th AskGamblers Awards Finalists Announced as Voting Starts

Published

7 hours ago

May 8, 2026

The highly anticipated 9th AskGamblers Awards has officially moved into the voting phase. Following a rigorous selection process, the finalists across 5 premier categories have been revealed: Best Casino, Best New Casino, Best New Slot, Best Sportsbook, Best Provider. Players are invited to cast their votes until 11 June.

BELGRADE, Serbia, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The voting stage of the 9th annual AskGamblers Awards has officially begun. The list of finalists is announced, and the first votes are already coming in.

Players will have a chance to vote for their favourites until 11 June, when the winners will be announced at the gala ceremony in Belgrade. There’s a total of 5 categories where popular votes are taken into consideration:

Best CasinoBest New CasinoBest SportsbookBest New SlotBest Game Provider

There aren’t any big changes to the voting process compared to last year. The votes from the prominent members of AskGamblers Forum will be counted in as well, while some award winners will be announced directly by the AskGamblers teams.

These include: Best Crypto Casino, Best Partner, and Best Manager categories, while the AskGamblers Superstar Award is expected to be handed to the operator that illustrates the brand values best.

Dijana Radunović, General Manager at AskGamblers, is excited for voting to start: “We’re seeing some familiar contestants, but there are a lot of new names, so it will be exciting to see who comes up on top.”

“We invite players to vote for their favourites! This is a chance for you to speak your mind and support operators and games that shape this industry,” Radunović added.

Before the AskGamblers Awards Ceremony that takes place on 11 June, Charity Night is scheduled for 10 June.

About AskGamblers

AskGamblers.com strives to provide current, objective, and accurate information and guide its users towards a safe gaming experience. The way we deliver our services, from the online casino, sportsbook, slot, and bonus reviews to our trusted Complaint Service, is best described by our motto: ‘Get the truth. Then play.’

For more information about AskGamblers and AskGamblers Awards, please contact dijana.radunovic@g2m.com.

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Technology

SUNMI Wins 2026 Red Dot Design Awards with Five Products, Leading Global Commercial Industrial Design

Published

7 hours ago

May 8, 2026

SINGAPORE, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The winners of the 2026 German Red Dot Design Award were officially announced. Five of SUNMI Technology’s flagship products won awards: the CPad Business Tablet, CPad PAY, FLEX 3 Interactive Display, the V3 handheld POS Terminal and L3 Industrial PDA. These products stood out with three core design concepts: integration, versatility and human-centricity.

Known as “The Oscars” of global industrial design, the Red Dot Award has strict evaluation criteria covering aesthetics, ergonomics, scenario adaptability and sustainability. SUNMI adheres to original commercial scenario customization, rejecting crudely modified consumer devices. All winning products are originally developed for real commercial scenarios such as cash register, food delivery, industrial inspection and store operations, covering the entire commercial track with high scenario adaptability. Meanwhile, it practices ESG concepts, adopting eco-friendly materials and modular structures to extend equipment service life, reduce consumable consumption, and implement low-carbon and long-term design, which perfectly meets the Red Dot’s sustainability evaluation criteria.

Simplify Complexity: With highly integrated design, SUNMI eliminates the “patchwork feeling” of cluttered devices and tangled cables in traditional commercial scenarios, streamlining store operations and saving space.All-in-One Versatility: Beyond a single tool function, SUNMI’s products achieve flexible transformation through modular and multi-form designs to proactively adapt to changing business needs. The CPad series with modular accessories and FLEX 3’s Lego-style modular design enable multi-scenario application and long-term reuse.Human-Centric Design: Every detail is human-oriented, focusing on real pain points to enhance scenario experience. The L3 Industrial PDA reduces high-frequency work fatigue through scientific weight distribution; the V3 Smart POS Terminal balances large-screen visibility and grip comfort; CPad PAY integrates full-link functions to simplify workflows.

These honors stem from SUNMI’s long-term commitment to a sustainable society, original commercial R&D and ESG. In the future, SUNMI will uphold its core concepts, expand the boundaries of commercial industrial design, and empower global businesses with user-oriented, eco-friendly and high-value products.

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