Evergreen Requisition

How evergreen requisitions work

A standard job requisition authorizes hiring for a specific opening: one position, one manager, one approval, closed when filled. An evergreen requisition is a standing requisition for a role family and location, for example "Customer Service Representative, Tampa, full-time". Candidates apply to it all year. Recruiters screen them as they arrive and keep qualified people warm.

When actual openings are approved, they are filled from that pipeline. Some teams link each hire to a separate child requisition for the specific seat, so headcount and cost tracking still work. Others hire directly against the evergreen requisition and track seats in the HRIS or a hiring plan.

The public side is usually an evergreen job posting: one ad that stays live, with an honest note that the company hires for this role regularly.

When to use one

Use an evergreen requisition when three things are true: you hire for the role many times a year, the role is largely the same each time, and the delay of opening a new requisition and advertising from scratch costs you hires.

Typical examples are contact center agents hired in monthly training classes, warehouse and fulfillment associates, retail and restaurant crew, home health aides, CDL drivers, and bank tellers across a branch network. In those settings openings come from turnover as much as growth, and high-volume hiring teams need a talent pipeline ready before the vacancy exists.

Do not use one for unique or senior roles, roles where the requirements change each time, or roles you fill once or twice a year. A pipeline nobody hires from is a list of disappointed applicants.

Evergreen vs standard requisitions

• Lifespan: standard requisitions close when filled; evergreen ones stay open for months or a year, with periodic review.
• Openings: standard requisitions map to one or a set number of seats; evergreen ones map to a role and location, with seats tracked separately.
• Candidate expectation: applicants to a standard requisition expect a decision on that job; evergreen applicants should be told they are joining a pool for upcoming openings.
• Metrics: time to fill on a standard requisition is simple. On an evergreen requisition, measure from the date the specific seat was approved, or the figures will look absurd.

That last point catches many teams. If you calculate time to fill from the date an evergreen requisition opened in January, a hire in October shows a 270-day fill time. Report on seat-level dates, or use time to hire from the candidate's application instead.

Candidate experience and compliance

Evergreen postings get criticized as "ghost jobs" when applicants hear nothing for weeks. Avoid that by being specific: state that you hire for this role every month, give the next class or start date, and respond to every applicant within a few days, even if the answer is "you're in the pool for our March class." Close the loop with people who will not be hired.

There are also compliance points. Several states and cities now have pay transparency laws requiring a pay range on postings, and those apply to evergreen ads too. Federal contractors must follow OFCCP rules on who counts as an applicant and on keeping records, which can be harder to apply to a continuous pool; define the requisition and the applicant pool carefully and document when each person was considered. Applicant records must be kept for at least the federal minimum retention period, which is one year from the hiring decision for most employers. Rules vary by state, so check yours.

Best practices

• Review every quarter. Confirm the role, pay range and requirements are still right and close any evergreen requisition the business no longer needs.
• Screen continuously. The value is a ready pool. Screen and assess within days of application, not when a seat opens.
• Keep the pool warm. Text or email candidates with expected start dates and check availability before you call them for a class.
• Expire old applicants. Candidates who applied three months ago may have found other work. Ask them to reconfirm interest after 60 to 90 days.
• Track source and conversion. Measure how many evergreen applicants become hires, and from which sources, just as you would for standard requisitions.