This article is the second in a short series discussing the results of Nature’s 2024 global survey of hiring managers in science. The first article looked at six findings that describe the science hiring landscape. The survey, created in partnership with Thinks Insights & Strategy, a research consultancy based in London, launched in June and was advertised on nature.com, in Springer Nature digital products and through e-mail campaigns. It garnered 1,134 self-selecting respondents from 77 countries, based in academia, industry and other sectors, including industry responses provided in partnership with Walr, a market-research panel. The full survey data sets are available at go.nature.com/3bgpazn.