The 2025 Global Candidate Experience Awards have recognized 66 companies worldwide for demonstrating excellence in candidate experience, according to an announcement from Survale and the CandE Benchmark Research Program. This year's program collected feedback from over 66,000 job candidates across 110 participating companies, making it the largest study of its kind since the program's inception in 2011.
Awards were determined through comprehensive data analysis based on candidate satisfaction survey scores, with companies required to meet statistically significant response minimums, particularly from candidates who were not hired. The final analysis focused on four key rating questions: overall candidate experience ranking, likelihood to reapply to the organization, willingness to refer other job seekers, and how the experience would change candidates' future business relationship with the organization.
The 2025 winners include 58 North American companies, 9 from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), 6 from Asia-Pacific (APAC), and 3 from Latin America. Notable winners across regions include Schneider Electric, which received awards in all four geographic categories, along with companies such as CVS Health, Humana, Enterprise Mobility, and UST.
Kevin Grossman, VP of Benchmark Research at Survale, emphasized the importance of candidate experience, particularly during economic uncertainty. "When the economy is uncertain, candidates remember how you made them feel. Improving the experience isn't just the right thing to do — it's a long-term investment in relationships and the ultimate impact on businesses," Grossman stated. He noted that transparency, consistent communication, and feedback loops throughout the recruitment process serve as critical differentiators that can lead to positive business outcomes.
The complete listing of 2025 CandE winners by final ranking is available on the Survale CandE Winner page. Winning companies are also participating in case study research that will contribute to the program's industry reports and will be considered for Most Innovative Candidate Experience Improvement Awards, which will be presented at the virtual CandE Awards ceremony on October 30, 2025.
The CandE Benchmark Research Program, now part of Survale, has evaluated responses from over 2,000 global employers and nearly 1.9 million job seekers since its founding in 2011. The program continues its mission of helping companies focus on candidate experience and the business value it brings to organizations worldwide. More information about the research program can be found at https://survale.com/candes/.
For HR vendors serving the talent acquisition market, these awards highlight several critical implications. First, the scale of the research—involving 66,000 candidates—demonstrates that candidate experience measurement has moved from anecdotal to statistically significant analysis. This creates opportunities for vendors offering survey platforms, analytics tools, and candidate feedback systems that can help organizations meet the program's rigorous data requirements.
Second, the geographic distribution of winners indicates that candidate experience excellence is becoming a global priority rather than a regional concern. Vendors with international capabilities or those looking to expand globally should note that companies across North America, EMEA, APAC, and Latin America are investing in improving their recruitment processes. The recognition of Schneider Electric across all four regions particularly underscores how multinational corporations are implementing consistent candidate experience standards worldwide.
Third, Grossman's emphasis on candidate experience as a "long-term investment" during economic uncertainty suggests that organizations view recruitment quality as a strategic advantage rather than merely an operational function. This creates demand for solutions that help companies maintain positive candidate relationships even when hiring slows, potentially including talent community platforms, nurturing communication tools, and rejection management systems.
Finally, the program's focus on feedback from candidates who were not hired represents a significant shift in how organizations measure recruitment success. Traditional metrics have emphasized time-to-fill and cost-per-hire, but the CandE program's methodology prioritizes the experience of all candidates regardless of hiring outcome. This creates opportunities for vendors to develop products that help organizations gather, analyze, and act on feedback from their entire candidate pool, not just successful applicants.
The Most Innovative Candidate Experience Improvement Awards, to be presented in October 2025, will likely highlight specific technologies and approaches that winning companies used to improve their recruitment processes. HR vendors should monitor these case studies for emerging trends and best practices that could inform their own product development and marketing strategies.
