Video interview statistics for 2026 show that video is a routine hiring step, not a pandemic stopgap: 55% of hiring professionals ran video interviews in 2022, up from 22% in 2019, and 63% of US job seekers say they have already had an AI-run interview. At the same time, 39% of US hiring managers are adding in-person interviews to confirm candidates are who they say they are.
Every figure below comes from the publisher's own page or report, with its date and, where the source gives it, its sample. Surveys differ in who they asked and how they worded each question, so read each number as "this survey found", not as a count of every employer. We checked every source in October 2026.
- 55% of hiring professionals conducted video interviews in 2022, up from 22% in 2019 (Criteria, November 2022).
- 63% of US job seekers say they have already experienced an AI interview (Greenhouse, April 2026).
- 38% of US candidates have withdrawn from a hiring process because it included an AI interview (Greenhouse, April 2026).
- 39% of US hiring managers are conducting more in-person interviews to verify authenticity (Greenhouse, November 2025).
- 6% of job candidates admitted to interview fraud, such as having someone else pose as them (Gartner, July 2025).
How common are video interviews?
Video interviewing jumped in 2020 and then held at a high plateau. The most consistent public trend line comes from Criteria's yearly survey of hiring professionals. We could not find a newer public update of the same question, so 2022 is the latest point in that series.
| Year | Hiring professionals using video interviews |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 22% |
| 2020 | 58% |
| 2021 | 53% |
| 2022 | 55% |
Source for the table: Criteria's Hiring Benchmark surveys, as summarized by Criteria in November 2022 (linked below).
- 86% of organizations were adding new virtual technology to interview candidates, in a Gartner poll of 334 HR leaders taken on April 13, 2020 (Gartner, April 2020).
- 55% of hiring professionals said they conduct video interviews in 2022, after 22% in 2019, 58% in 2020 and 53% in 2021. Of those using video, 89% ran live video interviews and 9% used one-way (asynchronous) interviews (Criteria, November 2022).
- 90% of hiring professionals who interview by video use a general tool such as Zoom, Skype or Teams, and 8% use software built for video interviewing, in a survey of 500+ hiring professionals collected in July and August 2022. The same report found 11% fewer respondents using in-person interviews than a year earlier (Criteria 2022 Hiring Benchmark Report).
- 22.6% of US workers teleworked or worked at home for pay in March 2026, and the rate stayed between 21.5% and 23.0% over the prior year (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, April 2026). Remote and hybrid roles keep at least the early interview rounds on video.
Video vs in-person interviews: what candidates prefer
Most candidates do not have a strong preference, but the split changes a lot by industry and education. Tech job seekers lean clearly toward video.
| Group | Prefer video | Prefer in person |
|---|---|---|
| All candidates (43% have no preference) | 33% | 24% |
| Tech job seekers | 44% | 14% |
| Bachelor's degree holders | 41% | 19% |
| High school diploma or less | 20% | 42% |
| Manufacturing job seekers | 16% | 49% |
Source for the table: Criteria 2024 Candidate Experience Report, a survey of 2,516 job candidates worldwide (linked below).
- 43% of job candidates have no preference between video and in-person interviews, 33% prefer video and 24% prefer in person (Criteria 2024 Candidate Experience Report, 2024).
- Tech job seekers prefer video 44% to 14% and bachelor's degree holders 41% to 19%, while people with a high school diploma or less prefer in person 42% to 20%. Women chose virtual interviews more often than men (37% vs 29%) (Criteria, May 2024).
- 62% of candidates say they are more likely to apply to a position if the organization requires in-person interviews, in Gartner's second-quarter 2025 candidate research (Gartner, July 2025).
- 46% of US candidates want the option to request a human interview instead of an AI one (Greenhouse 2026 Candidate AI Interview Report, April 2026).
Both trends can hold at once: candidates value the convenience of video for early screens, and many trust a process more when at least one round happens in person.
One-way and AI-scored video interviews
A one-way (asynchronous) video interview asks you to record answers to set questions with no interviewer on the call. A growing share are run or scored by AI, and some AI interviews use voice or chat instead of video, so the figures below cover AI interviews in general unless they say "video". For the format itself, see what a one-way video interview is and how AI interviewers work.
How many candidates meet an AI interviewer
- 63% of US job seekers say they have already experienced an AI interview. Among US candidates who went through AI evaluation, 70% say AI was not clearly disclosed before their most recent AI interview, and one in five only found out once it started. The report surveyed 2,950 job seekers in the US, UK, Ireland, Germany and Australia (Greenhouse, April 2026).
- 54% of US job seekers said they had encountered an AI-led interview in Greenhouse's earlier survey of 4,136 job seekers, recruiters and hiring managers in the US, UK, Ireland and Germany (Greenhouse, November 2025). The two surveys used different samples, so treat the move from 54% to 63% as a direction, not a precise trend.
- 18% of US hiring managers name AI-assisted video interviews among their most common uses of AI in recruiting (Resume Genius, July 2026).
- 71% of US adults oppose AI making the final hiring decision, and 66% would not want to apply for a job with an employer that uses AI to help make hiring decisions, in a survey of 11,004 adults fielded in December 2022 (Pew Research Center, April 2023).
Drop-off and withdrawals
- 38% of US candidates have withdrawn from a hiring process because it included an AI interview, and another 12% say they would if one were required. The most-cited reason for abandoning a process was a pre-recorded video interview scored by AI with no human present (33%), ahead of undisclosed AI use (27%), AI monitoring during the process (26%) and a required AI-led interview (26%) (Greenhouse, April 2026).
- 31.4% of US job seekers have abandoned an application or declined an interview because of a one-way AI video or chatbot screening, in a Prolific survey of 1,066 US job seekers run in April 2026. Younger candidates did so more often: 36% of 18–24s and 35% of 25–34s, against 21% of those 55 and older (Enhancv, April 2026).
- 34% of candidates say they have walked away from a role because the recruiting process was taking too long (Criteria 2024 Candidate Experience Report, 2024).
Laws on recorded and AI-scored interviews
- Illinois: since January 1, 2020, an employer that uses AI to analyze recorded video interviews for Illinois-based roles must tell applicants beforehand, explain how the AI works and what general characteristics it evaluates, and get their consent. It may share the videos only with people needed to evaluate the applicant and must delete them within 30 days of a request. Since 2022, an employer that relies solely on AI analysis to decide who gets an in-person interview must report applicants' race and ethnicity data each year (Illinois Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act, 820 ILCS 42).
- Maryland: since October 1, 2020, an employer may not use certain facial recognition services during an applicant's interview unless the applicant consents by signing a waiver (Maryland HB 1202, 2020).
- New York City: since enforcement began on July 5, 2023, an employer using an automated employment decision tool needs a bias audit within one year of use, public information about that audit, and notices to candidates (NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Local Law 144).
Identity checks, deepfakes and the return of in-person rounds
The fastest-moving video interview numbers are about identity. Employers report more impersonation and AI-altered video, and some respond by moving at least one round back into the office.
- 6% of job candidates admitted to participating in interview fraud, either posing as someone else or having someone else pose as them, in a second-quarter 2025 survey of 3,000 candidates. Gartner also predicts that by 2028, one in four candidate profiles worldwide will be fake; that is a forecast, not a measurement (Gartner, July 2025).
- 65% of US hiring managers say they have caught applicants using AI deceptively, including 18% who caught applicants showing up as deepfakes. To verify authenticity, 39% say they are conducting more in-person interviews (Greenhouse, November 2025).
- 36% of US job seekers say they have used AI to alter their appearance, voice or background during video interviews: 59% of them to appear more professional and 37% to hide physical appearance and identity traits (Greenhouse, November 2025). The question bundles appearance, voice and background changes, so it does not measure fraud on its own.
- 17% of US hiring managers report encountering candidates using deepfake technology during video interviews, and 86% agree AI will make candidate authenticity harder to verify over the next year (Resume Genius, July 2026).
- 4 in 10 hiring professionals say they are struggling with candidates using AI to misrepresent themselves, and over a third say they cannot reliably catch it, in a survey of 1,027 US hiring professionals (Criteria 2026–2027 Hiring Benchmark Report, October 2026).
- The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported an increase in complaints about deepfakes and stolen personal data used to apply for remote IT, programming, database and software jobs, including voice spoofing during online interviews (FBI IC3, June 2022).
Technical requirements and access
We found no recent, published survey that reliably measures how often video interviews fail for technical reasons, so we do not quote one. What is documented is how much bandwidth the main call apps need for a one-to-one video call, and how many people lack home broadband. Figures are as of October 2026.
| Call app | Standard HD (one-to-one) | Higher quality | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom | 1.2 Mbps up/down for 720p | 3.8 Mbps up / 3.0 Mbps down for 1080p | Zoom Support |
| Microsoft Teams | 1.5 Mbps up/down recommended (up to 1080p); 150 kbps minimum | 4 Mbps up/down for best performance | Microsoft Learn |
| Google Meet | Up to 1.7 Mbps each way for 720p | Up to 3.6 Mbps each way for 1080p | Google Workspace Admin Help |
- 78% of US adults subscribe to home broadband, and 16% are "smartphone-only" internet users with no home broadband, in a survey fielded February to June 2025 (Pew Research Center, November 2025).
In practice, a stable connection matters more than peak speed. Run a two-minute test call on the same app, device and network you will use, and keep a phone number handy in case the video drops. Our live coding interview tips for Zoom and Teams cover setup for technical rounds.
What these numbers mean if you have a video interview coming up
- Expect a mix of formats. Early screens are often one-way or AI-run; later rounds are usually live, and more employers are adding an in-person step. Ask your recruiter which format each round uses.
- Practice out loud, on camera. Recorded and AI-scored formats usually set a time limit for each answer, and retake rules vary by employer. Short, structured spoken answers are a skill you build with repetition.
- Know how you are evaluated. If you apply for a role in Illinois, Maryland or New York City, the rules above give you a right to notice. Anywhere else, it is still fair to ask whether a recording is reviewed by people, by AI or both.
- Prepare for identity checks. Keep your camera on, join under your real name, and be ready for a photo ID check or an in-person round, especially for remote technical roles.
Take the assessment yourself and follow the employer's rules — use CoPilot Interview to practice beforehand. Its Mock Interview mode in the desktop app builds questions from your résumé and the job description, reads each question aloud, scores each spoken answer out of 10 with what to fix and a model answer, and ends with a report card. The free plan includes 15 minutes every day. If you would rather not install anything, the free browser AI mock interview has 113 real questions across 9 tracks. For format-specific prep, read how to pass an AI interview, how to prepare for recorded one-way video interviews and questions to ask in a remote job interview. For the wider picture, see our job interview statistics for 2026 and AI in hiring statistics for 2026.
Methodology and how we chose sources
This page compiles figures that other organizations have published. We did not run a survey of our own, and we do not publish CoPilot Interview usage data. Our inclusion rules:
- Primary sources only. We opened every figure at the publisher's own page, press release, report or official legal text, and we link that exact page. If we could not open a figure at its source, we left it out.
- Recent first. We prefer data from 2025 and 2026. Older figures (2020, 2022 and 2024) appear only where no newer public figure exists, and each one shows its year.
- Named samples. Where a source states its sample, we give it. Several sources are companies that sell hiring or career software (Criteria, Greenhouse, Resume Genius and Enhancv), and their surveys are not independent studies. Resume Genius gives two different sample sizes for its survey (1,500 in the introduction and 1,000 in the methodology note), so we cite it without a sample size.
- Different questions. Survey sizes, countries and wording differ, so numbers from different sources are not directly comparable even when they look similar.
- Date checked: October 2026. Vendor requirements and laws can change, so confirm on the linked pages before relying on them.
Rehearse your video interview answers out loud
Answer real interview questions on camera, get each spoken answer scored out of 10 with what to fix, and see a model answer. Free, in your browser, nothing to install.
Try a free AI mock interviewFAQ
What percentage of employers use video interviews?
In Criteria's 2022 Hiring Benchmark survey, 55% of hiring professionals said they conduct video interviews, up from 22% in 2019. Gartner's April 2020 poll found 86% of organizations were adding virtual interviewing during the pandemic. We found no newer public figure from the same series, so treat 55% as a 2022 baseline.
Do candidates prefer video or in-person interviews?
In Criteria's 2024 survey of 2,516 candidates, 43% had no preference, 33% preferred video and 24% preferred in person. Tech job seekers leaned toward video, 44% to 14%. Separately, Gartner found 62% of candidates are more likely to apply when an employer requires in-person interviews.
How many job seekers have done an AI interview?
63% of US job seekers in Greenhouse's 2026 Candidate AI Interview Report said they had experienced one. In Greenhouse's November 2025 survey, 54% said they had encountered an AI-led interview. The surveys used different samples, and AI interviews can be video, voice or chat.
How many candidates drop out of one-way or AI video interviews?
38% of US candidates told Greenhouse (April 2026) they had withdrawn from a hiring process because it included an AI interview, and the most-cited reason for abandoning a process was an AI-scored pre-recorded video with no human present (33%). In an April 2026 Enhancv survey of 1,066 US job seekers, 31.4% had abandoned an application or declined an interview because of a one-way AI video or chatbot screening.
Are deepfakes common in video interviews?
They are a minority of cases but a growing concern. 18% of US hiring managers told Greenhouse (November 2025) they had caught applicants showing up as deepfakes, and 17% told Resume Genius (July 2026) they had encountered deepfake technology in video interviews. In Gartner's 2025 research, 6% of candidates admitted to interview fraud.
What internet speed do I need for a video interview?
For a one-to-one HD call, Zoom lists 1.2 Mbps up and down for 720p, Microsoft Teams recommends 1.5 Mbps up and down, and Google Meet uses up to 1.7 Mbps each way for 720p (as of October 2026). Stability matters more than peak speed, so run a short test call on the same network first.
Are there laws about AI in video interviews?
Yes, in some places. Illinois requires notice, an explanation and consent before AI analyzes recorded video interviews, plus deletion within 30 days on request. Maryland requires a signed waiver before facial recognition is used in an interview. New York City requires bias audits and candidate notices for automated hiring tools.