Speed to contact is measured from the moment an application arrives to the first meaningful response, such as a screening invite or a call, rather than an automated acknowledgement. Teams usually track the median and the slowest cases, broken down by role or location. In hourly and high-volume hiring, applicants often apply to several jobs at once, so the first employer to respond tends to get their attention.
Slow contact loses candidates before they are ever assessed, and the strongest often go first because they have the most options. Clearing the queue daily, offering self-booked or on-demand screening and sending clear next steps all shorten the gap. Speed should not come at the cost of fairness, though: every applicant still deserves the same screening, whether they applied at 9am or midnight.