Recruit optimism about the job market continues to climb in the Recruiter Index^®, a monthly poll of Recruiter.com's network of more than 28,000 independent recruiters and talent acquisition specialists.

Help us predict the future of the job market. Take the April 2021 Recruiter Recruiter Index^® survey now.

Overall recruiter sentiment reached 3.8 out of 5 in the March 2021 Recruiter Index^®, a new high in the history of the survey. And recruiters expect the good times will keep rolling, as the majority predicted their job requirement loads would increase in the next 30 and 90 days.

March's results also marked another milestone: For the first time, recruiters are working on more jobs now than they were this time last year. Recruiters reported working on an average of 16 open roles in March 2021, compared to an average of 14 open roles in March 2020. 

March 2020 marked the opening of the pandemic in the U.S., so the fact that average workloads are up 14 percent from then may come as little surprise. Still, this is an important sign of concrete recovery for the job market.

Recruiters across verticals report the highest talent market activity in IT, healthcare, logistics/supply chain, skilled trades, manufacturing, and retail. Most of these fields rely on in-person employees rather than remote workers, which suggests the grand experiment in working from home may be coming to an end.

Candidates' priorities appear to be shifting accordingly: Compensation is now the most important factor for candidates when evaluating new opportunities, beating out the long-reigning champion, remote work.

Download the full Recruiter Index^® survey here, and see the infographic below for more highlights.