Summary: TA leaders face growing pressure to demonstrate ROI, yet most still lack comprehensive visibility across the full funnel. This article examines why visibility is declining and how to turn that around to improve hiring outcomes.

Talent Acquisition is about more than just filling roles. Teams need to prove impact, justify spend, and clearly connect hiring outcomes to business goals.

That expectation collides with a growing problem: most teams still can’t see their entire hiring funnel.

According to the 2026 Talent Acquisition Outlook Report, visibility into the funnel continues to decline. Nearly nine in 10 respondents — 89% — rate their visibility as average or below, up from 85% last year. Even more concerning, only 23% of teams can connect recruitment media spend to actual hiring outcomes.

In an era defined by tighter budgets, AI acceleration and executive scrutiny, limited funnel visibility is no longer a technical inconvenience. It is a strategic risk.

The data dilemma: Why visibility is slipping when it matters most

Many TA teams are swimming in data, yet starving for insight. Over time, technology stacks have expanded to include applicant tracking systems, CRMs, programmatic media platforms, analytics tools and point solutions layered on top of one another. Each system captures part of the candidate journey, but rarely the full picture.

The result is fragmented data, inconsistent definitions, and reporting that stops short of meaningful outcomes. When insights live in silos, teams lose the ability to track candidates from first impression to hire, measure quality across channels or understand where drop-off truly occurs.

A more effective approach brings the entire talent funnel together in one connected ecosystem, where data flows seamlessly from attraction through conversion and hire. When analytics are built into every stage of the journey, teams gain consistent metrics, clearer visibility into performance and insights that connect activity to outcomes. Instead of stitching together reports, TA leaders can focus on understanding what’s working, what’s not and where to optimize next.

Surface metrics vs. strategic insights

Clicks, impressions, and cost per click still dominate recruitment reporting. These top-of-funnel metrics are easy to access and quick to share, but they offer little insight into what actually drives hiring success.

Only 23% of teams can directly attribute media investment to hiring or quality outcomes. That gap leaves TA leaders defending budgets with incomplete stories — and makes it nearly impossible to optimize spend with confidence.

Strategic visibility means knowing which channels produce qualified candidates, how long it takes them to convert, and what it costs to hire them. Without that clarity, teams remain reactive, adjusting tactics after results stall instead of predicting performance ahead of time.

The cost of partial visibility

Limited funnel visibility erodes ROI in subtle but significant ways. The budget is often reallocated based on volume rather than quality. Underperforming channels stay live longer than they should. Promising sources are underfunded because their impact isn’t visible downstream.

Technology investments suffer the same fate. Even advanced platforms underdeliver when teams lack a solid data foundation to utilize them effectively. AI tools trained on incomplete or disconnected data can reinforce inefficiencies rather than solve them.

Ultimately, partial visibility prevents TA from speaking the language of the business: i.e., outcomes, efficiency, and growth.

The takeaway

In 2026, the advantage won’t come from collecting more data — it will come from seeing the full story and knowing what to do with it.

TA leaders are under increasing pressure to prove impact, justify spend, and connect hiring outcomes to business goals. That’s impossible when visibility stops at the top of the funnel or when insights are trapped across disconnected systems.

Full-funnel visibility changes the conversation. It allows teams to understand which channels drive qualified talent, where candidates drop off, how long it takes to convert them, and what it truly costs to hire — not just in media spend, but in time and effort.

But visibility alone isn’t enough. The teams pulling ahead are pairing data with context, interpretation, and partnership. They turn insight into decisions they can act on with confidence.

That’s where Symphony Talent comes in. Through SFX Insights, we help organizations connect talent acquisition data into a single, full-funnel view — and work alongside TA leaders to interpret what that data means for their strategy, priorities, and outcomes.

Because in the end, you can’t optimize what you can’t see, and you can’t lead with confidence without understanding the full picture.

Want to dig in deeper? Contact us today!