HR Statistics (2026): 76 Sourced Figures

This page collects figures that human resources (HR) teams use to plan hiring, pay, benefits and compliance. Every number links to the document that first published it. US labor market, pay and benefits figures come from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Discrimination charge figures come from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Employer benefit practices come from the SHRM 2026 Employee Benefits Survey. UK figures come from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Figures on engagement, job satisfaction, quits and tenure are on the employee engagement statistics page. Figures on telework and hybrid work are on the remote work statistics page. For a comparison of the systems HR teams use to run these processes, see the StatWharf comparison of HR software.

Key figures at a glance

Hiring, openings and layoffs in the United States

The BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) counts job openings, hires and separations across the US economy each month. Rates are shares of total employment, except the openings rate, which is openings as a share of employment plus openings. September 2026 figures are preliminary.

The annual JOLTS release covers the full year 2025.

• US employers made 63.0 million hires in 2025, a decrease of 1.5 million from 2024, per the BLS (2026).
• The average US hires rate was 3.3% in 2025, down from 3.4% in 2024, per the BLS (2026).
• The US averaged 7.1 million job openings in 2025, 571,000 fewer than in 2024, per the BLS (2026).
• The average US job openings rate was 4.3% in 2025, compared with 4.6% in 2024, per the BLS (2026).
• US employers recorded 62.8 million total separations in 2025, per the BLS (2026).
• US layoffs and discharges rose by 1.2 million to 21.2 million in 2025, per the BLS (2026).
• The average US layoffs and discharges rate was 1.1% in 2025, per the BLS (2026).

Quits, which made up most separations in 2025, are covered on the employee engagement statistics page. Recruiting systems for high-volume hiring are compared in the StatWharf comparison of talent acquisition platforms.

Employment and earnings, September 2026

The BLS Employment Situation report for September 2026 was published on October 2, 2026.

• US nonfarm payroll employment changed little in September 2026, at +29,000 jobs, per the BLS (2026).
• The US unemployment rate was 4.2% in September 2026, per the BLS (2026).
• 7.1 million people were unemployed in the US in September 2026, per the BLS (2026).
• Average hourly earnings for US private nonfarm employees were $37.81 in September 2026, per the BLS (2026).
• US average hourly earnings rose 3.0% over the 12 months to September 2026, per the BLS (2026).

Compensation costs

The BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC) survey measures what employers spend per hour worked on wages and on benefits. The figures below are for June 2026 and were published on September 9, 2026.

• US employers spent an average of $49.46 per hour worked on civilian employee compensation in June 2026, per the BLS (2026).
• Benefits made up 30.0% of private industry compensation costs in June 2026, per the BLS (2026).
• Health insurance cost private employers $3.48 per hour worked, or 7.4% of total compensation, in June 2026, per the BLS (2026).

Cost growth

The BLS Employment Cost Index (ECI) tracks change in compensation costs with a fixed mix of jobs. The figures are not seasonally adjusted, for the 12 months ending September 2026, and were published on October 30, 2026.

• US civilian compensation costs rose 3.4% in the 12 months to September 2026, per the BLS (2026).
• US civilian wages and salaries rose 3.1% in the 12 months to September 2026, per the BLS (2026).
• US civilian benefit costs rose 3.9% in the 12 months to September 2026, faster than wages, per the BLS (2026).

Employee benefits

Access to benefits (BLS)

The BLS Employee Benefits in the United States release reports the share of workers with access to each benefit in March 2026. It was published on September 25, 2026.

• 46% of US private industry workers participated in an employer medical care plan in March 2026, per the BLS (2026).
• Among full-time private industry workers with access to medical care, the take-up rate was 67% in March 2026, per the BLS (2026).
• 57% of state and local government workers had access to paid family and medical leave in March 2026, per the BLS (2026).
• 61% of the lowest-paid quarter of private workers had paid sick leave in March 2026, against 95% of the top-paid quarter, per the BLS (2026).
• 39% of the lowest-paid quarter of private workers had medical care in March 2026, against 94% of the top-paid quarter, per the BLS (2026).
• 48% of the lowest-paid quarter of private workers had retirement benefits in March 2026, against 92% of the top-paid quarter, per the BLS (2026).

What employers offer (SHRM)

SHRM’s 2026 Employee Benefits Survey drew 5,472 responses from HR professionals at US organizations between January 28 and March 23, 2026. SHRM published the findings on June 17, 2026. The figures describe the share of employers in the sample, not the share of workers.

• 46% of US employers offered paid parental leave in 2026, up 7 percentage points from 2025, per SHRM (2026).
• 44% of US employers offered paid maternity leave beyond legal requirements in 2026, per SHRM (2026).
• 36% of US employers offered paid family leave in 2026, up 5 percentage points, per SHRM (2026).
• 33% of US employers offered employer-sponsored subscriptions to AI tools in 2026, up 17 percentage points from 2025, per SHRM (2026).
• 27% of US employers offered limited-time work-from-anywhere arrangements in 2026, per SHRM (2026).
• 55% of US employers offered leadership and managerial coaching in 2026, up 8 percentage points, per SHRM (2026).
• 88% of employers rated health benefits as very or extremely important in 2026, per SHRM (2026).
• The share of employers offering prescription drug coverage bundled with health insurance fell from 93% to 77% in 2026, per SHRM (2026).

Tools that manage enrollment and eligibility for these plans are compared in the StatWharf comparison of benefits administration software.

Union membership

The BLS reports union membership each year from the Current Population Survey. The 2025 figures were published on February 18, 2026.

• The US union membership rate was 10.0% in 2025, little changed from 2024, per the BLS (2026).
• 14.7 million US wage and salary workers belonged to unions in 2025, per the BLS (2026).
• The US private sector union membership rate was 5.9% in 2025, per the BLS (2026).
• The US public sector union membership rate was 32.9% in 2025, up 0.7 percentage point, per the BLS (2026).
• Full-time union members had median weekly earnings of $1,404 in 2025, against $1,174 for nonunion workers, per the BLS (2026).

The HR workforce

The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook gives employment, pay and projections for HR occupations. Both pages were last modified on October 29, 2026. Pay is for May 2025 and projections run from 2025 to 2035.

• HR specialists held about 939,700 US jobs in 2025, per the BLS (2026).
• The median annual wage for US HR managers was $149,280 in May 2025, per the BLS (2026).
• Employment of US HR specialists and HR managers is projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, per the BLS (2026). The BLS rates this as faster than average.

Discrimination charges

The EEOC published its fiscal year 2025 results in April 2026. The federal fiscal year 2025 ran from October 2024 to September 2025.

• The EEOC received 88,201 new discrimination charges in fiscal year 2025, about level with fiscal year 2024, per the EEOC (2026).
• The EEOC resolved 90,743 charges of discrimination in fiscal year 2025, up 4% from fiscal year 2024, per the EEOC (2026).
• The EEOC secured $660 million for 17,680 victims of employment discrimination in fiscal year 2025, per the EEOC (2026).

United Kingdom

Labour market (ONS)

The ONS Labour market overview for October 2026 was published on October 20, 2026. Survey figures cover June to August 2026 and are seasonally adjusted.

• The UK employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 was 75.3% in June to August 2026, per the ONS (2026).
• The UK unemployment rate was 4.7% in June to August 2026, per the ONS (2026).
• UK vacancies fell to 691,000 in July to September 2026, down 37,000 on the year, per the ONS (2026).
• UK payrolled employees fell by 111,000 between August 2025 and August 2026, per the ONS (2026).
• Annual growth in UK regular pay was 3.7% in June to August 2026, per the ONS (2026).

Employer hiring intentions (CIPD)

The CIPD Labour Market Outlook for summer 2026 surveyed 2,017 senior HR professionals and decision-makers in the UK between June 24 and July 24, 2026. The net employment balance is the share of employers who expect more staff in three months, minus the share who expect fewer.

• The UK net employment balance was +9 in summer 2026, near a record low, per the CIPD (2026).
• The UK private sector net employment balance was +11 in summer 2026, a joint record low outside the pandemic, per the CIPD (2026).
• The UK public sector net employment balance was −1 in summer 2026, up from −7 in spring 2026, per the CIPD (2026).
• The UK voluntary sector net employment balance was +18 in summer 2026, the highest of any sector, per the CIPD (2026).
• The median expected basic pay increase among UK employers was 3% in summer 2026, per the CIPD (2026).

Sickness absence (CIPD)

The CIPD Health and wellbeing at work report was published on September 9, 2025.

• UK employees averaged 9.4 days of sickness absence a year, the highest level in more than 15 years, per the CIPD (2025).
• 35% of UK organisations with homeworking staff said presenteeism had risen because of homeworking, per the CIPD (2025).

Method

• Data window. Figures date from 2025 to November 2026. The page prefers the latest release of each series. BLS news releases are linked through their dated archive pages so each link keeps showing the cited figure after the next release.
• Primary sources only. Each figure links to the body that first published it: the BLS, the EEOC, SHRM, the ONS and the CIPD. Statistics aggregators, roundups and vendor blogs that re-quote figures were not used.
• Checks. StatWharf Editorial opened each source in November 2026 and checked that the figure and its date appear there. Figures without a reachable primary source were left out. Two SHRM sets were left out: the 2026 cost-per-hire and time-to-fill benchmarks, and the State of AI in HR 2026 findings. Their figures are not readable on SHRM’s public pages and appear only on secondary sites. It also includes EEOC charge counts by basis for fiscal year 2025, for which no EEOC release was found.
• No modeling. The page reports published figures only. No value is estimated by StatWharf.
• Measures differ. BLS benefit figures count the share of workers with access. SHRM figures count the share of responding employers that offer a benefit. CIPD figures come from surveys of HR professionals and employers. Comparisons are valid within one source, not across sources.
• Overlap. Quits, tenure, engagement and job satisfaction figures are on the employee engagement statistics page. Telework figures are on the remote work statistics page. They are not repeated here.

Using these figures

US employers had 7.5 million open jobs in September 2026 and made 63.0 million hires in 2025. Benefits make up 30.0% of private industry compensation costs, and benefit costs grew faster than wages in the year to September 2026. Paid parental leave is now offered by 46% of employers in SHRM’s sample. In the UK, employer hiring intentions remain near a record low and sickness absence is at its highest level in more than 15 years. Systems that run hiring, payroll and benefits in one place are compared in the StatWharf comparison of HR software. Other StatWharf data pages are listed in the research directory. Send corrections to any figure to the editorial address below.

Factual corrections are free: editorial@statwharf.com.