The Overall Impact

Here’s what the aggregated data from all Eqo customers reveals

34%
of employee referrals who apply end up getting hired

This is huge in comparison to the typical 2-5% application-to-hire rates from job boards.

The State of Employee Referral Programs in 2025: Key Insights & Benchmarks

6.9% Turnover Rate
for employee referrals at six months

This is 20% lower than non-referrals.

10 Days Faster
time-to-hire for employee referrals

This accounts for almost 50% faster for most healthcare organizations.

$208,000/yr Saved
for every employee referral that replaces one contract agency staff in healthcare

*Based on $100/hr contract agency fees at 40hrs/week

Employee Engagement & Adoption

Here’s what the data behind hundreds of thousands of employee referrals submitted reveals.

47%
of frontline employees learn about their organization's employee referral program through an SMS text campaign

This illustrates the power of SMS campaigns in engaging frontline employees.

1.5 referrals
is the average number of employee referrals submitted per employee

23% of Employees
end up making a second referral

These are who we call repeat referrers.

2.1%
of employees who engage with the employee referral program make more than 5 referrals

Tuesday
is the most active day for employee referral submissions

7am & 12pm EST
are the two most active hours of the day for employee referral submissions

11% on Weekends
Employees still engage with their employee referral program on the weekends – with 11% of referrals are made during then

This is helpful as you think about your campaign timings.

43%
of employee referrals are submitted outside of working hours (9-5pm EST)

19%
of employees are interested in getting automatically notified of new referral opportunities every week

With some organizations seeing as high as 25-30%.

44%
of candidates that receive an employee referral invitation end up accepting it

72%
of candidates that accept an employee referral invitation end up applying

This is huge in comparison to the typical 7-10% application conversion rate on career sites.

Employee Referral Bonus Amounts

How much are organizations paying for employee referral bonuses

Healthcare
Employee Referral Bonus Amounts

Employee Referral Bonus Amounts in Healthcare

$3,200
Average Employee Referral Bonus in Healthcare

Average CRNA Employee Referral Bonus: $3,700 – with the highest being $10,000

Average RN/LPN Employee Referral Bonus: $1,900 – with the highest being $5,000

More Details on RN/LPN Employee Referral Bonuses

Hospice Nurse: $1,000
Night Shift: $1,500 regardless if full-time or part-time

Some organizations are paying New Grad RN Referrals: $5,000

Average Surgical Tech Employee Referral Bonus: $3,000 – with the highest being $5,000

Average Physician Employee Referral Bonus: $5,000 – with hospitalist going up to $10,000

Average Employee Referrals Bonuses for healthcare by state

California: $2,200
Missouri: $1,800
Maryland: $1,300
Minnesota: $1,100

Assisted Living
Employee Referral Bonus Amounts

Employee Referral Bonus Amounts in Assisted Living

$1,600
Average Employee Referral Bonus in Assisted Living

Average Resident Assistant Employee Referral Bonus: $2,000

Average Nutrition Services Aide Employee Referral Bonus: $750

Construction
Employee Referral Bonus Amounts

$1,400
Average Employee Referral Bonus in Construction

With Electrical Foreman, Journeyman Electrician, and Electrical Service Techs going up to $3,000

Splits/
Installments?
How are Employee Referral Bonuses Split?

54%
of employee referral bonuses are paid in 2 installments

42% are paid in 1 installment, and 3% are paid in 3 installments.

Employee referral bonuses under $500 are paid in 1 installment, while bonuses above $2,000 are paid in two installments.

Organizations tend to prefer 2-installment payouts when tracking referrals manually but often switch to 3-installment payouts once they automate tracking through an employee referral solution.

Measuring Success of your Employee Referral Program

Here’s how organizations assess the health of their employee referral programs

Hires Contribution
The #1 Metric to measure your program's health

28-30% of External Hires
is the percentage of external hires that best-in-class teams attribute to employee referrals

Candidate Pipeline Contribution
Is your program helping with sourcing?

18-22% of Candidates/Apps
is the percentage of external candidates/applications that best-in-class teams attribute to employee referrals

Employee Participation Rate
Is your workforce engaged?

12-16%
of your workforce submitting one referral in a given year

With some organizations seeing as high as 20%

HR Efficiency
How much time is your team spending on the program?

30min - 1hr per week
is the time best-in-class teams are spending on their referral programs since they have it all automated.

Employee Experience Rating
Are you asking employees how much would they rate the process out of 5 stars?

4.7/5 Avg Rating
is the average rating that best-in-class teams receive when they ask their employees for feedback about their employee referral process using Eqo

"Love the simplicity"

"Great and easy to refer a friend"

"Very well made and easy to use, attractive layout and updates are visible and up to date"

"So convenient!"

Best Practices & Common Pitfalls of Employee Referral Programs

How to build a world-class employee referral program

Best Practices
To boost your employee referral program

Employee Referral Program Best Practices

1. Host Parallel Raffles for Engagement
Implement small quarterly raffles and one large annual raffle to sustain engagement throughout the year.

2. Publish Referral Success Stories to Boost Morale
Showcase successful hires through referral stories, videos, blogs, or intranet posts. Recognizing employee contributions reinforces the value of the program and encourages further referrals.

3. Engage New Hires at the 30-Day Mark
Introduce the referral program to new hires around their 30-day mark. This timeframe capitalizes on their fresh connections and enthusiasm while settling into the company.

4. Regularly Share Program in Company Announcements
During town hall meetings, newsletters, and leadership announcements to keep it top of mind and encourage ongoing participation.

5. Bottom-up and Top-Down Marketing
Market to both employees and also leadership, encouraging leaders to promote the program within their teams. Provide templates to leaders to make promotion easy, reinforcing the program's importance.

6. Leverage Physical Marketing
Place banners, posters, and awareness business cards in high-traffic employee areas like cafeterias, break rooms, and hallways to serve as constant reminders of the referral program.

Common Pitfalls
To avoid for a healthy employee referral culture

Employee Referral Program Common Pitfalls

1. Undervalue Participation & No Transparency
Poor communication after a referral submission can make employees feel undervalued, deterring them from participating again.

2. Overcomplicate Eligibility Rules
Complex rules can confuse employees and deter participation. Simplifying eligibility ensures easier engagement with the program.

3. Decentralized Referral Programs
Offering varying referral bonuses across departments or facilities can cause competition and resentment. Centralizing the program ensures fairness and consistency.

4. Inaccessible Referral Methods
Requiring email-password logins or app downloads is a barrier for frontline employees, causing low engagement. Use simple, mobile-friendly referral methods like text-based solutions to increase participation.

5. Compliance Risks
Contacting candidates without clear consent may result in legal risks. Ensure compliance with consent guidelines to avoid liabilities.

6. Manual Referral Tracking
Manual tracking of referrals on spreadsheets is time-consuming and error-prone, leading to delays in payouts and a poor employee experience. Employees become frustrated without timely updates on their referrals, while teams waste hours on manual tracking.

Upcoming Trends in Employee Referral Programs

How are world-class talent acquisitions teams staying ahead

1. Expanding Employee Referrals to Hiring Events
To maximize event awareness and engagement

To boost awareness and engagement around hiring events, companies are broadening referral programs to include event-based referrals. Employees can now refer candidates specifically for hiring events, not just open job roles. If their referral is hired after the event, the employee receives a reward, with the amount depending on the role’s level or specialty.

2. AI-Powered Employee Referral Assistants

AI-powered assistants are transforming referral management by automating the manual effort typically required by administrators. For example, if a candidate notes their referral being "Tee Swift" on their application, the AI can accurately match this with Employee Taylor Swift in the system, eliminating errors and providing a seamless experience for candidates. This “white-glove” approach ensures referrals are processed smoothly, enhancing both candidate and employee satisfaction.

3. Text-Based Experience – No Apps Needed

A text-based, app-free referral process is emerging as the go-to for companies with large frontline workforces. This approach allows employees to make and track referrals easily via text message, removing app installation as a barrier. The simplicity and accessibility of text-based referrals make participation frictionless, leading to greater engagement and higher referral rates among frontline employees.

The State of Employee Referral Programs in 2025

Key Insights & Benchmarks

The Overall Impact

Employee Engagement & Adoption

In just 5 months, Compassus sourced 77 nursing hires, shortened time-to-hire by 10 days, and reduced turnover by 76% for referral hires – using Eqo's Employee Referral Solution

Employee Referral Bonus Amounts

In just 4 months, Fairview sourced 73 nursing hires, saved their team over 600 hrs, and reduced turnover rate to 3.1% for referral hires – using Eqo's Employee Referral Solution

Measuring Success of your Employee Referral Program

In eight months, Interstates sourced 304 referrals, cut turnover by 50%, reduced time-to-hire by 10 days, and saved $113,000 in recruitment costs – using Eqo's Employee Referral Solution

Best Practices & Common Pitfalls of Employee Referral Programs

Upcoming Trends in Employee Referral Programs

Transform Employee Referrals Into Your Frontline Hiring Superpower With Eqo

Eqo helps you increase your frontline employee engagement with your referral program while eliminating manual tracking from an admin side.