In a world where digital communication dominates nearly every role, typing speed has quietly become one of the most underrated yet critical competencies for modern hiring. From customer support to data entry to remote operations, the ability to type quickly and accurately directly impacts productivity, turnaround time, and team efficiency. Yet many hiring teams still overlook this skill in their screening process, which leads to mis-hires, performance bottlenecks, and increased training costs. This blog explores why evaluating typing speed matters in today’s hiring process and how forward-thinking organizations use typing assessments to hire smarter.
Table of Contents
TL;DR – Key Takeaways!
- Typing speed directly influences productivity, response time, and operational efficiency.
- Roles in customer service, sales ops, support, transcription, and virtual assistance require fast and error-free typing.
- Evaluating typing speed helps reduce mis-hires, improve training ROI, and create objective, skills-first hiring workflows.
- Typing tests improve fairness, accuracy, and consistency in screening high-volume roles.
- Companies use assessment platforms like Xobin to automate typing tests, proctoring, scoring, and performance analytics.
The Rising Importance of Typing Speed in Modern Workplaces
Typing is no longer restricted to clerical or administrative functions. Today, 90% of job roles involve continuous digital communication, whether through email, documentation, chat tools, ticketing systems, or CRM platforms. As a result, typing speed has become a foundational skill that influences how quickly and effectively employees can perform.
Productivity and Workflow Efficiency
Typing speed directly impacts the velocity at which employees complete daily tasks. A candidate who types at 70+ WPM can complete written tasks up to 2x faster than someone typing at 35–40 WPM.
For roles involving:
- Constant email communication
- Real-time customer interaction
- Documentation-heavy workflows
- Technical writing or coding
Slower typing creates bottlenecks that accumulate into lost hours each week.
Furthermore, faster typing isn’t just about speed; it reflects muscle memory, cognitive processing efficiency, and familiarity with digital tools, making employees more agile in fast-paced environments.
Accuracy Matters Just as Much as Speed
Typing errors lead to miscommunication, delayed responses, and customer dissatisfaction. In high-stakes environments like customer support, healthcare, or finance, one mistyped word can create major misunderstandings. Accurate typists reduce:
- Miscommunication risks
- Editing time
- Error-related escalations
This combination of speed and accuracy boosts operational efficiency significantly.
Typing Speed as an Indicator of Digital Literacy
Typing speed often correlates with broader digital proficiency. Candidates with higher typing speeds generally show:
- Proficiency with productivity tools
- Familiarity with CRM platforms
- Comfort with documentation
- Ability to multitask digitally
In today’s workplace, where digital tasks dominate, typing becomes a proxy for overall digital readiness.
Why Typing Speed Matters Across Different Job Roles
Customer Support & Helpdesk
Typing speed is mission-critical for support teams working in chat-based environments. Customers expect responses within seconds, and agents must multitask between platforms while maintaining context. Slow typing directly impacts Average Handling Time (AHT) and customer satisfaction.
Typing assessments help recruiters predict:
- Chat response efficiency
- Queue management capabilities
- Ability to maintain composure under time pressure
Sales & Business Development
In outbound and inbound sales, communication frequency is extremely high.
Fast typists can:
- Personalize outreach faster
- Log CRM updates without delay
- Respond to inbound leads immediately
This leads to improved conversion rates and more predictable pipelines.
Operations, HR, and Administrative Roles
These functions handle documentation, compliance, communication, internal coordination, and reports. Higher typing speed means:
- Faster documentation
- Less backlog
- Better time management
- Streamlined reporting
For HR teams, especially those operating in remote environments, typing proficiency is essential for candidate communication, note-taking, and documentation.
Technical Roles (Engineering, QA, IT)
While coding speed isn’t the same as typing speed, the two are correlated.
Efficient typists:
- Navigate IDEs quickly
- Document code effectively
- Debug faster
- Write test cases more efficiently
Moreover, clear written communication is critical for an asynchronous engineering team; typing skill enables better collaboration.
Want to evaluate typing skills with zero manual effort? Try automated typing assessments with Xobin!
Book A DemoThe Strategic Value of Typing Tests in Recruitment
Evaluating typing speed offers more than operational efficiency; it drives strategic hiring decisions.
Objective Screening for High-Volume Hiring
Typing tests eliminate subjectivity from early screening. Recruiters can filter thousands of applicants automatically based on WPM, accuracy, and error patterns. This reduces manual work and improves fairness.
Predicting On-the-Job Performance
Typing speed is one of the strongest predictors of actual performance in communication-heavy roles. Candidates who score well in typing assessments typically demonstrate better:
- Task completion efficiency
- Digital adaptability
- Multitasking under pressure
- Communication clarity
Enhancing Candidate Experience
Candidates appreciate transparent, skills-first evaluations instead of lengthy, ambiguous hiring processes. A quick typing test helps them understand expectations and demonstrate capability early.
Reducing Training and Onboarding Costs
Typing-slow hires often require additional training time, slowing down ramp-up periods. Hiring candidates with proven typing competency reduces onboarding friction and increases early productivity.
The Digital Shift: Typing Speed as a Core Workplace Competency
In today’s hybrid and remote work models, typing is no longer a support skill; it’s a core competency. Tools like Slack, MS Teams, CRMs, helpdesks, and collaboration platforms require employees to type continuously throughout the workday.
Typing speed impacts:
- Workflow velocity
- Time management
- Collaboration efficiency
- Customer interactions
- Meeting and documentation accuracy
Top-performing teams recognize that typing efficiency compounds over time, resulting in significant productivity gains organization-wide.
Evaluate Typing Speed with Precision Using Xobin!
Xobin offers a complete suite for evaluating typing proficiency and integrating typing assessments seamlessly into modern hiring workflows. As an AI-powered talent assessment platform, Xobin helps hiring teams assess typing speed with automation, accuracy, and scalability, making it ideal for high-volume hiring and digital-first roles.
With Xobin, HR teams can:
- Deploy typing tests with real-time analytics
- Measure WPM, accuracy, key errors, and response patterns
- Use AI communication evaluation to assess clarity, grammar, fluency, and tone
- Auto-generate candidate scorecards for easy comparison
- Ensure integrity using AI-based proctoring (tab-switch detection, EyeGazer, device detection, multiple-user detection)
These insights allow recruiters to shortlist candidates who can operate efficiently in digital-first workplaces, ensuring not just faster hiring but smarter hiring.
If you’re ready to streamline hiring and evaluate typing & communication skills with precision, book a personalized demo with Xobin today.
FAQs
1. Why do employers test typing speed?
Employers test typing speed to evaluate productivity, accuracy, communication readiness, and ability to handle digital workflows efficiently.
2. What is considered a good typing speed for hiring?
Most organizations look for 45–60 WPM, though roles in support, operations, or content may require 65+ WPM with high accuracy.
3. Does typing speed matter in remote jobs?
Yes, typing proficiency is crucial for asynchronous communication, documentation, and collaboration in remote-first workplaces.
4. Is typing speed correlated with job performance?
Typing speed often correlates with productivity, digital literacy, and workflow agility, key components of high-performing employees.
5. Should all hiring processes include typing tests?
Not all roles require typing tests, but they are essential for support, HR, operations, sales, tech, and communication-heavy roles.
