The Challenge: Dependency on Contingency Recruitment

A mid-sized IT services firm relied heavily on recruitment agencies to fill technical and sales roles. Their problems included:

• Inconsistent candidate quality—agencies prioritised speed over fit.

• High placement fees—each hire cost them 20–25% of salary.

• No long-term hiring strategy—every new role felt like starting from scratch.

They wanted a more cost-effective, strategic way to hire.

The Solution: A Tailored, Scalable Hiring Approach

We worked with the firm to shift from reactive hiring to a structured, proactive approach by:

• Embedding a recruiter to work closely with their hiring managers.

• Building a talent pipeline to reduce reliance on external recruiters.

• Eliminating placement fees by moving to a fixed-cost model.

The Results: Sustainable, Cost-Effective Hiring

In less than a year, they:

• Reduced hiring costs by 60%, compared to agency fees.

• Hired 15 critical team members, from engineers to sales professionals.

• Built a structured hiring process, leading to better long-term outcomes.

Key Takeaways

For IT firms, a proactive, embedded approach can:

• Lower costs while improving hiring quality.

• Create a repeatable hiring process that scales.

• Reduce reliance on external recruiters for long-term success.

For this company, breaking free from contingency recruitment led to better hires and significant savings.