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First Advantage Shares Industry Insights from 2020 Trends Report

Latest Research Identifies Screening Preferences and Behaviors Across Retail, Transportation, Staffing, Healthcare and Financial Services

ATLANTA, Sept. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — First Advantage, a global leader in background check and drug screening solutions, today published the fourth installment of its annual report, spotlighting industry insights. The report analyzes customer responses and aggregate data from more than 71 million global searches across 200 countries and subnational entities conducted last year to reveal screening behaviors and preferences.

Examining the retail, transportation, staffing, healthcare and financial services sectors, First Advantage uncovered seven trends related to reducing risk and focusing on what matters:

  • Retail, transportation and other industries are conducting more county-level criminal searches, while healthcare and financial services are conducting fewer
  • The average returned record rate increased across all industries, up from 7.1 in 2018 to 7.7 in 2019
  • With more returned records, more cases needed review, jumping from 17 percent in 2018 to 20.6 percent in 2019
  • With more focused reviews year over year, customers indicate that more candidates are eligible for hire
  • Outside of the transportation industry, the report found that there was a 1 percent decrease in drug testing
  • Retail and staffing see the highest drug positivity rates—5.89 percent in retail and 3.38 percent in staffing
  • Marijuana remains the most common drug found during testing

First Advantage also considered additional factors in its research, capturing the top returned convictions by vertical, most common drug screening test types, the rate of returned records, average turnaround time and more. The result is a comprehensive look at the state of background and drug screening by industry.

Executive Vice President of Global Operations for First Advantage Tom Ellis said, “Recruiting practices differ between industries, each having its own set of candidate specifications. Part 4 of the First Advantage Trends Report magnifies how employers across verticals approach screening to find the hires they need to keep their businesses running. At the same time, this resource also helps to compare and contrast how companies hire new employees and what risk they are—or aren’t—willing to assume in the process. These are critical insights for any organization looking to expand their workforce. While COVID-19 may have impacted hiring trends overall, it has not played a significant role in the way different industries respond to risk.”

For a complimentary download of Part 4 of the First Advantage Trends Report, visit learn.fadv.com/2020trends.

About First Advantage
First Advantage provides comprehensive background screening, identity and information solutions that give employers and housing providers access to actionable information that results in faster, more accurate people decisions. With an advanced global technology platform and superior customer service delivered by experts who understand local markets, First Advantage helps customers around the world build fully scalable, configurable screening programs that meet their unique needs. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, First Advantage has offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

To learn more, please visit fadv.com.

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