Top Five Takeaways from Caregiver Recruitment Benchmark Report

Augusta has released its latest Caregiver Recruitment Benchmark Report, drawing on more than 110,000 applications from  across North American home care organizations in the final quarter of 2025. The full report contains 28 pages of insights — and commentary from HCAOA CEO Jason Lee — but what are the most important things for busy home care leaders to take away from the data? We asked Augusta to share what stood out.

1. Indeed brings the crowd. Your website brings the hires.
Indeed still dominates volume (66% of applicants) and is exceptionally important. But, your own website quietly outperforms it on quality — delivering nearly two times better conversion to hires.

2. Speed wins. Hesitation loses.
Interview candidates within four days or risk losing them. The faster you make a real human connection, the more likely you are to hire. Simple, but unfortunately, under-executed.

3. Proximity matters more than you think.
Seventy six percent of hires live within 20 miles. Translation: your next great caregiver is probably already nearby — don’t over-recruit from afar.

4. Most “caregivers” aren’t caregivers (yet).
Over half of applicants have no professional experience. The opportunity? Agencies that train well win big.

5. Flexible schedules are still king, but no one agrees what that means.
It’s the top thing caregivers want — and still somehow misaligned with how agencies talk about it. Clarity here equals competitive edge. The second thing caregivers want is an easy commute. Regarding #3 on this list: You and the caregiver are aligned on this and it’s worthwhile to invest in executing this!

Bottom line:
More applicants isn’t the problem. Converting the right ones — quickly, locally, and clearly — is where the game is won.

You can register to download the free report from Augusta's website.