By
Renan Mendes
February 20, 2025
Updated
February 20, 2025
Choosing the right hiring strategy for your business
When roles need to be filled in your company, you typically have three hiring options:
- Hire internally: Hiring from within can be the simplest approach if you have the right talent in-house. Identify the best fit within your team or department and promote them to the role.
- Manage the hiring process in-house: You or your recruitment team handle job postings, CV reviews, interviews and more.
- Partnering with a recruitment agency: An external recruiter manages the entire process, from sourcing candidates to screening and shortlisting top talent.
At first glance, outsourcing recruitment might seem like an unnecessary expense. After all, why pay someone to do something you could manage internally? But the reality is that partnering with a recruitment agency can save you money in the long run—while also helping you build a stronger, more profitable team.
In this article, we'll talk about how working with a recruitment agency can save you time, cut hiring costs, and help your business grow.
The hidden costs of doing recruitment in-house
Many businesses assume that managing recruitment internally is a cost-saving decision. After all, why pay an external recruiter when you can have your existing team find and hire the right candidate?
However, the reality is that hiring without professional recruitment support comes with hidden costs—both in time and money.
Here are some expenses you might not have considered:
- Job advertising costs: To attract top talent, you'll need to invest in paid job advertisements on platforms like LinkedIn, Google, and industry-specific job boards. This can be expensive, especially for high-demand roles.
- Specialised recruitment tools: Unless you plan to spend hours going through CVs manually, investing in the right recruitment software and subscriptions is necessary. Effective hiring requires applicant tracking systems (ATS), job board subscriptions, and candidate screening tools—all of which come at a cost. Many of these tools have monthly fees that add up.
- Salary and training for an internal recruiter: If you decide to build an in-house hiring team, you’ll need to pay competitive salaries, benefits, and ongoing training costs. Skilled recruiters are in high demand, and their expertise doesn’t come cheap.
- Time spent on hiring by existing employees: If your team handles recruitment alongside their primary responsibilities, it takes time away from revenue-generating work. Managers, HR staff, and department heads all get pulled into the process, reducing overall productivity.
- Interview costs: Organising and hosting interviews—especially for senior positions—often requires travel, scheduling coordination, and assessment tools. Some businesses even pay for technical tests or psychometric assessments to evaluate candidates. These expenses can often add up.
- Onboarding and training new hires: A successful hire doesn’t end with signing a contract. New employees need onboarding, training, and resources to integrate smoothly into their roles. Poor onboarding can lead to early turnover, meaning you may need to restart the hiring process.
The real cost of time in hiring
Hiring isn’t just about filling a role—it’s about how long it takes and what that delay costs your business. When positions remain open for weeks or even months, the impact goes beyond recruitment:
- Revenue loss and productivity drain: Every unfilled role means lost output. Existing employees take on extra work, reducing efficiency and increasing burnout.
- HR and leadership distraction: HR teams and managers spend valuable hours writing job descriptions, sorting CVs, and conducting interviews—time that could be spent on strategic business goals.
- Hiring delays mean lost talent: The best candidates are off the market fast, and without a structured hiring process, you risk losing top talent to faster-moving competitors.
Without a recruitment agency’s expertise and network, the hiring process can drag on unnecessarily, costing your company money and momentum.
How a recruitment agency saves you money
A recruitment agency does more than reduce hiring costs—it brings long-term financial and operational advantages. While the savings may not always be immediate, the impact on efficiency, talent quality, and overall business performance makes recruitment agencies a wise investment.
"Working with an experienced recruitment partner gives companies valuable industry insights and a clearer understanding of their hiring needs,” says Maria Gonzalez, Senior Business Development Manager at Airswift. “Often, clients realise they need fewer hires than expected because we identify candidates who can cover multiple roles. This reduces recruitment and salary costs while maintaining productivity.”
Here’s how working with a recruitment agency helps businesses save and earn money in the long run:
Reduced time to hire = Lower operational costs
If time is money, saved time is saved money. A recruitment agency speeds up the hiring process by:- Pre-screening candidates so you only interview the most qualified candidates.
- Reducing time spent on resume reviews, interview scheduling and follow-ups.
- Allowing managers and HR teams to focus on core business tasks.
Access to higher-quality talent = Better business outcomes
Recruitment agencies establish networks of pre-vetted professionals, meaning they can help you fill roles faster and with better-fit candidates.They can help you:
- Tap into passive talent – I.e. skilled professionals who aren’t actively searching for new opportunities but closely fit your candidate profile.
- Identify candidates beyond hiring biases, increasing diversity and innovation in your workforce.
- Find talent with the skills and mindset that drive business growth and efficiency.
Lower risk of bad hires = Long term cost savings
A Harvard Business Review study shows that 80% of employee turnover is caused by poor hiring decisions, and 45% of that comes from a lack of process.
Hiring the wrong person is expensive, and it can be frustrating to let go of a recent hire after all the time and effort spent.
Recruiters reduce this risk by:- Conducting thorough candidate assessments, including skill evaluations and cultural fit.
- Leveraging industry expertise to match candidates with the right company environment.
- Providing support post-hire to ensure a smooth onboarding process.
Some companies, like Airswift, offer a two- or three-month guarantee. If, within that time, the candidate leaves the company, doesn’t perform as expected, or is not the right fit, a new hire is made at no additional cost.
Smoother onboarding and training = Higher employee retention and lowered costs
The hiring process is the first interaction a candidate will experience with your company. It marks the start of a business relationship and should be handled with care and transparency.
When recruitment agencies assist with onboarding, they can:
- Ensure a positive candidate experience, even for those not hired, strengthening your employer brand.
- Handle documentation, training, and first-day support to make new hires feel welcome.
- Reduce the likelihood of early turnover, which can be costly for businesses.
Market insights = Stronger hiring strategies
Recruiters always have their eyes on the industry and can provide valuable intelligence. Their expertise often includes:
- Industry and recruitment trends: What roles are in demand, and what strategies are businesses using to hire talent
- Competitive salaries: What competitors are paying for similar positions
- Candidate expectations: What job seekers value most in a new opportunity
Local expertise for global expansion = Smoother market entry
Expanding into a new country comes with complex hiring challenges. Recruitment agencies provide:- Legal compliance support: Understanding local labour laws and employment regulations.
- Cultural insights: Helping businesses navigate local workplace norms, cultural practices and expectations in different markets.
- Relocation assistance: This includes supporting international hires with documentation, work permits, and settling in. Some recruitment partners offer Employer of Record (EOR) services, handling payroll, compliance, and legal employment requirements for global hires.
Hire top STEM talent with Airswift
Partner with industry experts for fast, specialised hiring in the technology and engineering sectors. Our recruiters deliver top talent quickly, whether you need temporary or permanent employees. We ensure a perfect fit for both skills and company culture.
Talk to our specialists today to see how we can save you time and money.
