Job scams, thousands of applicants, getting ghosted by recruiters (if you hear from them at all): There are endless and completely valid reasons why people are tired of applying to jobs online.
But like it or not, it’s still the No. 1 way to land a job interview and offer, according to new Glassdoor data.
Online applications accounted for 60% of all job offers reported on Glassdoor in 2025 and accounted for twice as many interviews and 1.5 times as many offers than other sources, including referrals, being recruited and other methods.
But they’re also losing their edge: That share is down from a high in 2023 when cold applications led to 73% of all job offers.
Meanwhile, the share of people being recruited into roles is climbing. The proportion of recruiter-sourced candidates increased 72% since 2023 to nearly 15% last year, per Glassdoor data.
