Imagine this: You’ve posted a security job, expecting the usual flood of applicants. Days pass. A few apply. One looks promising. But by the time you get around to reviewing their CV and making contact, they’re gone. Hired at a company that’s not a victim of slow hiring.
Sounds familiar? It’s happening every day across the industry.
In fact, 49% of candidates abandoned job applications in Q4 2024, most often because of missing salary info, vague job details, or painfully slow response times. And in security hiring, where roles are urgent and margins are tight, slow hiring isn’t just frustrating; it’s expensive.
So, what’s really costing you candidates? Let’s dig into the numbers and explore how speed (or lack of it) could be sabotaging your recruitment.
What It Looks Like on the Ground
The impact of slow hiring isn’t always obvious at first, but over time, the cracks show in the form of missed shifts, lost revenue, and increasing pressure on your existing team. For companies managing security hiring, these delays quickly become operational risks.
Here’s what that looks like in real terms:
- Guards booked for upcoming events or shifts drop out, leaving you scrambling
- You lose out on contracts because you couldn’t staff up in time
- Subcontractors become your default (and expensive) fallback
- Your job ads go ignored because they lack the clarity candidates now demand
This all adds up to one thing: wasted time and lost money.
In 2025, hiring isn’t just about filling roles; it’s about keeping up with a market that expects speed, clarity, and action. The latest recruitment trends don’t lie. If your process is slow, your competitors will win.
What Candidates Expect in 2025
If 2024 made anything clear, it’s this: job seekers aren’t waiting around. Especially in frontline industries like security, where demand is high and competition is fierce, the expectation is for job ads to be clear, quick, and mobile-friendly, and for responses to come in hours, not days.
Here’s what’s driving candidate behaviour in 2025, backed by the latest hiring data.
49% of Candidates Abandon Applications
According to public UK hiring reports from 2024, nearly half of all candidates (49%) abandoned job applications in Q4 2024. Why?
- Missing salary details
- Vague job descriptions
- Overly long or complicated application processes
In security hiring, where roles are urgent and staffing gaps are costly, this kind of drop-off isn’t just inconvenient. It’s unsustainable.
Check out our guide on innovative hiring tools for assessing talent.
5.1 Weeks: The Average Time to Hire
Speed is the name of the game. But the average hiring process still takes 5.1 weeks, which is far too slow for most candidates, especially those seeking shift-based or temporary work.
In industries like security, where urgent cover is often required, this delay leads directly to lost revenue, missed shifts, and increased pressure on subcontractors.
1 in 3 Workers Plan to Switch Jobs in 2025
The candidate market is shifting. One in three UK workers is planning to change jobs this year, which means opportunity is everywhere—but only for the companies that can act fast and present themselves well.
With this much movement, your job ad has one chance to capture attention. And if it’s not hitting the mark? Someone else’s will.
75% of Candidates Prefer Automated Applications
Today’s applicants don’t want to be passed through outdated processes. 75% of candidates prefer automated application systems, especially if they’re intuitive and mobile-friendly.
They want to:
- Apply in minutes, not hours
- Get confirmation or feedback quickly
- Avoid duplicate form-filling or unnecessary steps
If your hiring process still relies on manual comms or clunky forms, expect drop-offs—and fast.
Recommended Read: Security Industry Trends for 2025
Key Candidate Priorities Right Now:
In 2025, job seekers expect:
- Salary transparency: No numbers? No application.
- Mobile-first experience: Job seekers expect to apply from their phone in under five minutes.
- Communication: A fast, human response matters more than ever.
- Clarity: They want to know shift patterns, expectations, and what comes next before they hit “apply.”
In security hiring, where urgent cover and shift-based work is common, these expectations can make or break your pipeline. If your hiring process doesn’t meet these standards, you’ll lose candidates before you’ve even had a chance to speak to them.
How GuardPass Fixes the Slow Hiring Problem
In security hiring, time is rarely on your side. Whether you need urgent shift cover or fast turnaround for a new contract, traditional recruitment methods aren’t built for the pace the industry now demands. GuardPass is.
Created specifically for the security sector, GuardPass removes the barriers that lead to slow hiring and replaces them with tools designed to move fast and deliver results. This allows us to automate security hiring.
Here’s how we help:
- Access to over 200,000 pre-vetted, SIA-licensed professionals
- Video introductions to help you assess candidates quickly, without the need for a full interview
- Instant messaging to reduce delays and improve candidate engagement
- Transparent, mobile-optimised job ads designed to convert
- Guaranteed 10+ applicants within 5 days, or we boost your job at no extra cost
Bonus: Fast, Compliant Vetting with GuardCheck
Even with the perfect candidate, delays can creep in during onboarding, especially around compliance. GuardPass includes GuardCheck, our fully digital BS7858 vetting tool, which enables screening and compliance checks to be completed in under 48 hours.
No paperwork delays. No manual chasing. Just a secure, compliant, and fast process built into the same platform where you post jobs and find talent.
With GuardPass, you don’t just hire faster. You hire smarter and stay fully compliant while you do it.
Speed Up. Stand Out. Hire Better.
In 2025, the most successful security companies aren’t just hiring — they’re doing it faster, smarter, and more transparently than ever before. Candidates expect clarity and speed. Clients expect reliability. And businesses that adapt are the ones winning contracts, reducing employee turnover, and staying ahead of the curve.
If your current hiring process feels slow, outdated, or simply ineffective, it’s time to make a change.
GuardPass is already helping hundreds of security employers:
- Reduce their time to hire
- Improve the quality of applicants
- Cut their dependency on subcontractors
- Stay fully BS7858 compliant
Whether you’re filling last-minute shifts or building out a long-term team, GuardPass gives you the tools and talent to do it better.
Start hiring faster today and set your security business up for success. Post a job on GuardPass.