The Challenge: High Hiring Costs with No Long-Term Strategy

A professional services firm was expanding its consulting team but found itself overly reliant on agencies. Their key hiring struggles included:

• High agency fees—each hire came with a steep 20–25% placement cost.

• Lack of hiring consistency—relying on agencies meant they had no internal hiring process.

• Time-consuming recruitment—hiring managers were stretched between client work and recruitment.

They needed a better way to build their team without the overhead of an in-house recruiter.

The Solution: Embedded, Cost-Effective Hiring Support

Instead of continuing with agencies, the firm opted for on-demand talent acquisition, which provided:

• A dedicated recruiter to manage hiring without the long-term commitment of an in-house hire.

• A structured hiring process, creating efficiency in sourcing and selection.

• Fixed, lower costs, eliminating unpredictable placement fees.

We worked directly with their leadership team to refine job requirements, directly source top talent, and oversee the hiring process from start to finish.

The Results: Smarter Hiring, Significant Savings

Within four months, they:

• Hired three key consultants, strengthening their team without agency dependency.

• Saved over $60K compared to what they would have spent on agency fees.

• Developed a repeatable hiring strategy, reducing the time spent on recruitment for future roles.

Key Takeaways

For professional services firms, a structured, flexible hiring approach enables:

• Significant cost savings—without compromising on candidate quality.

• Better hiring efficiency—reducing time spent on recruitment admin.

• Long-term scalability—building a process that improves with each hire.

For this firm, moving away from agencies didn’t just cut costs—it gave them a smarter, more sustainable way to grow their team.