Formula
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Requisition approval date | The day the hiring request was approved and recruitment could begin. |
| Offer acceptance date | The day the selected candidate accepted the offer. Some companies use the joining date instead; state which one you use. |
| Positions filled | Openings closed by an accepted offer in the period. |
Worked example
A retail chain's head office in Gurugram closed three requisitions in the April to June 2026 quarter. A store manager requisition approved on 3 March was accepted on 18 April. An accounts executive position took 38 days to fill and a visual merchandiser position took 60 days.
- Store manager: 3 March to 31 March = 28 days, plus 18 days in April = 46 days
- Total for three positions = 46 + 38 + 60 = 144 days
- Average time to fill = 144 / 3 = 48 days
Counting the days correctly
Count calendar days, not working days, because a vacancy costs the business every day it stays open. Subtract the approval date from the acceptance date, exactly as a spreadsheet does with two dates. Decide whether the end point is offer acceptance or joining. Acceptance measures your recruitment process, while joining adds the candidate's notice period, which can be long in India. Many companies report both: time to fill up to acceptance, and time to start up to the joining date.
Using time to fill for planning
Once you know the usual time to fill for each job family, you can plan ahead. If a store manager role normally takes about 45 days to fill and another 30 days of notice, a resignation must trigger recruitment at once, and a new store needs its requisitions raised more than two months before opening day. Compare each quarter with the same quarter last year, since hiring speed can change around festivals and appraisal months.
- Time to fill by job family and location.
- Time to start: approval to joining date.
- Share of requisitions filled within the target days you set.
Pitfalls that hide slow hiring
Requisitions that are put on hold and restarted can make time to fill look shorter if the clock is reset. Either exclude the paused days and say so, or count from the first approval. Cancelled requisitions never appear in time to fill, so track them separately. Internal transfers that fill a position in a few days can also pull down the average for a role that is genuinely hard to fill from outside.
How to improve it
- Keep job descriptions and salary bands ready for common roles, so requisitions move from day one.
- Keep in touch with past candidates who reached the final round, and contact them first.
- Approve requisitions within 48 hours of the request.
- Advertise internally and externally at the same time instead of one after the other.
- Review requisitions older than your target every week with the hiring manager.
Tracking it in ZeniaHR
In ZeniaHR, job requisitions live in the Recruitment Hub, and a requisition closes when its openings are filled. Recruitment analytics shows open requisitions and pending offers, and the Dashboard shows the recruitment pipeline. ZeniaHR does not calculate time to fill, so note the requisition approval date and the offer acceptance date for each position and work out the days in a spreadsheet.
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How do you calculate time to fill?
Subtract the date the requisition was approved from the date the selected candidate accepted the offer. That gives the days to fill one position. For an average, add the days for all positions filled in the period and divide by the number of positions. For example, 46, 38 and 60 days average 48 days.
Does time to fill include the notice period?
Normally no. Time to fill usually ends when the candidate accepts the offer. The notice period with the current employer goes into a separate measure, often called time to start or time to join, which ends on the first working day. Report both so you know how long the seat actually stays empty.
Should time to fill use working days or calendar days?
Calendar days are the usual choice, because the position is empty on weekends and holidays too, and calendar days are simple to calculate from two dates. If you use working days, say so on every report, since the two methods give different numbers for the same requisition.