How RPOs Can Win More Clients by Leveraging Tech-Enabled Hiring

For years, companies have turned to recruitment agencies as the default solution to hiring challenges. Need to scale quickly? Call an agency. Struggling to find niche talent? Call an agency. But as hiring costs rise and efficiency becomes more critical, businesses are realizing that there’s a better way.

Recruitment agencies charge 15-30% of a candidate’s first-year salary, sometimes higher for hard-to-fill roles. That’s $15,000-$30,000 per hire on a $100,000 salary—without any long-term guarantee that the hire will stick.

So, what’s the alternative?

Smarter hiring strategies that put control back in your hands, cut costs, and improve long-term hiring outcomes. Here’s what’s working for fast-scaling startups, SMEs, and enterprise talent teams today.

1. In-House Talent Acquisition: Build Instead of Buy

Bringing recruitment in-house is one of the most effective ways to reduce hiring costs and improve hiring quality.

Why it works:

✔ Lower long-term costs: Internal recruiters cost less per hire than agencies when hiring at scale.
✔ Stronger employer branding: Agencies pitch multiple companies; your in-house team sells your vision.
✔ Better retention: Employees hired directly by companies stay 41% longer (SHRM).

How to do it right:

• Invest in strong in-house recruiters who understand your culture and hiring needs.
• Use technology to automate sourcing, screening, and scheduling (more on that below).
• Develop talent pipelines so you’re not starting from scratch with each hire.

Cost savings? A five-person in-house talent team (at ~$120K per recruiter) can fill 100+ roles per year—cutting recruitment costs by 50% or more compared to agency spend.

2. Employee Referral Programs:

Tap Into Your Best Hiring SourceYour best hires are often the ones who come from within your own network.

Why it works:

✔ Referral hires are 55% faster to hire than sourced candidates (Jobvite).
✔ They stay 70% longer than hires from job boards or agencies (LinkedIn).
✔ They cost significantly less than agency hires (referral bonuses are usually a fraction of agency fees).

How to do it right:

• Offer a structured referral bonus (e.g., $2,000 for a successful hire—far cheaper than a recruiter’s fee).
• Make referring easy with one-click submission portals.
• Keep employees engaged by updating them on the status of their referrals.

Real-world impact? Companies with strong referral programs fill 30% of their roles through referrals—saving thousands on hiring costs every year.

3. Direct Sourcing:

Own Your Talent PipelineInstead of paying an agency to find candidates, build your own sourcing strategy—giving you long-term hiring control.

Why it works:

✔ Cuts sourcing costs: Eliminates recruiter markups.
✔ Faster hiring: Engage talent directly, skipping middlemen.
✔ Higher quality candidates: Target passive talent that agencies don’t always reach.
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How to do it right:

• Use AI-driven sourcing tools to scan millions of profiles and surface top candidates instantly.
• Build and nurture a talent community (LinkedIn groups, events, newsletters) to engage potential future hires.
• Track high-quality applicants who weren’t the right fit now but may be later.

The numbers? Companies that invest in direct sourcing reduce hiring costs by 38% compared to agency-heavy hiring (Aberdeen Group).

4. Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO):

A Scalable Alternative to AgenciesUnlike traditional agencies, RPOs act as an extension of your team—handling end-to-end recruitment but with a long-term focus rather than a per-hire fee structure.

Why it works:

✔ More cost-effective than agencies—especially for high-volume hiring.
✔ Provides scalability without losing hiring quality.
✔ Data-driven hiring with better long-term outcomes.

How to do it right:

• Choose an RPO partner that aligns with your industry and hiring needs.
• Ensure they integrate with your existing HR tech stack.
• Focus on long-term partnerships, not transactional hires.

Companies that switch from agencies to RPO save 30-50% on hiring costs while improving quality of hire (Everest Group).

5. Hiring Marketplaces & Gig Platforms:

On-Demand Talent Without the Hefty FeesFor project-based work or contract hiring, platforms like Toptal, Upwork, and Fiverr provide high-quality talent without agency markups.

Why it works:

✔ Faster hiring: Access pre-vetted professionals instantly.
✔ Lower costs: No agency fees—just direct marketplace pricing.
✔ More flexibility: Scale teams up or down as needed.\How to do it right:

How to do it right:

• Define clear job scopes to attract the right talent.
• Vet freelancers thoroughly—platform ratings help, but test projects work best.
• Use contract-to-hire models if long-term employment is a possibility.

Impact? Companies using gig platforms for hiring reduce time-to-hire by 60% while cutting recruitment costs significantly.

6. Tech-Enabled Hiring: The Future of Smart Talent Acquisition

The best alternative to recruitment agencies? Technology-driven hiring that automates the slow, expensive parts of the process.

Why it works:

✔ AI sourcing tools find top candidates 10x faster than manual searches.
✔ Automated screening & scheduling cuts recruiter workload by 30-50%.
✔ Predictive hiring analytics improve hiring quality and retention.

How to do it right:

• Use AI-driven sourcing (like Popp) to identify top talent instantly.
• Automate screening and scheduling to reduce time-to-hire.
• Track real-time hiring data to improve efficiency and outcomes.

Results? Companies that invest in hiring automation cut costs by 35% and fill roles 40% faster (Gartner).

The Takeaway: Smarter Hiring Without the Agency Markups

Recruitment agencies aren’t the only option. Companies that rethink hiring save millions while building stronger, more engaged teams.Key Takeaways:

• In-house recruitment saves 30-50% on hiring costs while improving retention.
• Referrals, direct sourcing, and RPOs provide high-quality candidates at a lower cost.
• Hiring tech and automation cut recruiter workload by 30-50% and reduce time-to-hire by 40%.

At Popp, we help companies hire smarter by automating sourcing, screening, and hiring workflows—so you can build great teams without relying on expensive agencies.

Want to see how it works? Let’s talk.

For years, companies have relied on recruitment agencies to fill roles quickly. But as hiring costs rise and efficiency becomes more critical, the question isn’t just how to hire—it’s who should be doing it.

Many enterprise talent acquisition teams and fast-growing scale-ups are realising that outsourcing recruitment isn’t always the silver bullet it once seemed. While agencies offer expertise and speed in certain scenarios, over-reliance on them can be expensive and transactional, sometimes creating a disconnect between the hiring team and the long-term success of employees.

So, how does agency hiring stack up against in-house recruitment? Let’s break it down.

The Cost Comparison: How Much Are You Really Spending?

Recruitment agency fees are well-known but rarely quantified in full. Let’s put some hard numbers to it.

Agency Hiring Costs

• Recruitment agencies typically charge 15-30% of a candidate’s first-year salary.
• Hiring 50 mid-level employees at $100,000 each? Expect to pay between $750,000 to $1.5 million in fees alone.
• A single senior hire at $200,000 can cost $40,000 to $60,000 in recruiter fees.
• Need 200 hires in a year? Agency costs could exceed $6 million—before salaries, onboarding, or training.
• And what happens when a hire doesn’t work out? Most agencies offer a 60-90 day replacement guarantee, but after that, you’re back to square one—paying full price for a new search.

In-House Hiring Costs

Now, let’s compare that with the in-house approach.

• A fully loaded in-house recruiter (including salary, benefits, and tools) typically costs $120,000 - $150,000 per year.
• A well-run internal TA team can handle 20-30 hires per recruiter annually.
• Hiring 200 employees per year with an internal team would cost around $1.2 million - $1.8 million, including salaries, sourcing tools, and technology.

Bottom line?

Even with a robust in-house TA function, bringing hiring in-house can reduce costs by 30-50% compared to agency-heavy recruitment models.

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The Efficiency Breakdown: Speed, Quality & Retention

Cost aside, the bigger question is efficiency. Can an in-house team really move as fast as an external agency?

Agency Speed & Efficiency

Agencies excel at speed and market reach—especially for hard-to-fill roles.

• If they already have pre-vetted candidates, they can make quick placements.
• But if they don’t? They’re starting from scratch—just like your in-house team.
• The average time to fill a position using an agency is 45-60 days (LinkedIn Talent Solutions).
• Agencies focus on placement, not retention. 46% of new hires leave within 18 months when sourced through agencies (Harvard Business Review).

In-House Hiring Speed & Efficiency

• Companies that invest in employer branding, sourcing, and referrals consistently hire 30% faster than those that rely on agencies.
• In-house recruiters can focus on long-term retention—hiring for culture fit and growth potential, not just for placement.
• Referral hires are the fastest to close, often cutting time-to-fill in half compared to traditional sourcing methods.
• The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reports that employees hired through internal recruitment efforts stay 41% longer than those placed by external recruiters.

When Recruitment Agencies Are a Strategic Advantage

While agencies aren’t always the most cost-effective option, there are specific situations where they add real value:

1. Niche & Executive Hiring

For highly specialised or executive roles, agencies bring deep market knowledge, extensive networks, and access to passive candidates. Internal teams may struggle to source these roles effectively without industry-specific expertise.

2. Rapid Scaling & Hiring Surges

If your company is in hypergrowth mode, agencies can help bridge the gap when in-house teams don’t have the capacity to keep up with demand. This allows internal teams to focus on core roles while agencies handle volume hiring.

3. New Market Expansion

When entering new geographies or industries, agencies provide on-the-ground expertise—helping navigate local talent pools, salary expectations, and hiring regulations.

4. Confidential & Discreet Searches

For sensitive hires—like replacing an underperforming executive—agencies can conduct searches discreetly, preventing internal disruptions.

In these cases, using an agency isn’t just an expense—it’s a strategic investment. The key is using them selectively and intentionally, rather than defaulting to agency hiring across the board.

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The Hidden Costs of Over-Reliance on Agencies

Beyond upfront fees, heavy reliance on agencies comes with hidden costs that can impact long-term hiring success.

1. Brand Dilution

Agencies represent multiple clients at once, often treating candidates as transactions. This means your employer brand is at the mercy of a third party—which can lead to rushed pitches, inconsistent messaging, and poor candidate experiences.

2. Lack of Candidate Ownership

When agencies control the candidate pipeline, your business loses the ability to build long-term relationships. Candidates who aren’t the right fit today might be perfect in six months—but if an agency owns that relationship, they’re being marketed to your competitors instead.

3. Turnover & Rehiring Costs

Because agency hires are often less engaged, turnover rates tend to be higher.

• The Work Institute estimates that replacing an employee costs 33% of their salary.
• If agency hires leave more frequently, companies aren’t just paying for recruitment once—they’re stuck in a cycle of re-hiring, re-training, and re-spending.

The Future of Hiring: Smarter, Not More Expensive

Companies scaling fast can’t afford inefficient, high-cost hiring models. And yet, recruitment spending continues to balloon.

What leading enterprise TA teams and scale-ups are doing instead:

✅ Building strong internal TA teams that scale with hiring needs
✅ Investing in sourcing tools, automation, and employer branding to attract talent organically
✅ Prioritising employee referrals to reduce reliance on external recruiters
✅ Shifting from reactive hiring to proactive talent pipelining

At Popp, we help companies reduce their hiring costs and increase efficiency—without sacrificing the benefits of agency expertise. By automating workflows, optimising sourcing, and strengthening internal hiring teams, we make sure you’re hiring the right people—faster, and for less.

The Final Takeaway

Recruitment agencies will always have their place, but they shouldn’t be your default hiring strategy.

• If you’re hiring at scale, in-house hiring can cut costs by 30-50%.
• Internal teams often fill roles 30% faster than agencies.
• Retention improves by 41% when hiring is done in-house.

That said, for niche, executive, and rapid-scaling hiring needs, agencies provide unmatched expertise—when used strategically.

Looking to optimise your hiring strategy? Let’s talk.

Book a quick demo and see how Popp can help you build a faster, smarter, and more cost-effective hiring process—without sacrificing the value agencies bring when you need them most.

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A smarter way to hire, without breaking the bank.

Hiring is expensive. The average cost per hire is $4,700, according to SHRM, but that’s just the beginning. When you factor in lost productivity, bad hires, and ramp-up time, the real cost can be three to four times an employee’s salary.

For Heads of Talent Acquisition, the challenge is clear: cut hiring costs without cutting corners. You need the best people, but you also need a process that’s lean, efficient, and scalable.

That’s where we come in. At Popp, we help teams hire smarter—without relying on adding headcount. Here’s how you can do the same.

1. Stop Paying for External Recruiters You Don’t Need

Agency fees are one of the biggest hiring expenses. Recruiters typically charge 15-30% of a candidate’s first-year salary, which means hiring a $100,000 employee can cost an extra $15,000 to $30,000 in fees alone.

Sometimes agencies make sense, but for most roles, building a strong, cost-effective hiring process in-house is a better investment.

What to do instead:

• Invest in your own sourcing tools—LinkedIn Recruiter, AI-driven platforms, or a talent pipeline strategy
• Use hiring tech (like Popp) to automate and streamline the process
• Leverage referrals—more on that below

For companies hiring 50 mid-level employees at $100,000 each, reducing agency dependence could save anywhere from $750,000 to $1.5 million annually.

‍2. Lean into Employee Referrals

‍Your best recruiters are your own employees.Referred candidates get hired 55% faster and are 46% more likely to stay for three years or more. That means lower turnover, fewer bad hires, and less money wasted.Instead of spending heavily on job ads, build a structured referral program that works:

• Offer real incentives—bonuses, charitable donations, or meaningful experiences
• Make referring easy—streamlined submission, fast feedback loops
• Recognise great referrers publicly to encourage participation

This approach helps companies cut sourcing time, reduce turnover, and save anywhere from $15,000 to $25,000 per bad hire avoided.

‍3. Fix Your Job Descriptions

‍Many hiring teams waste hours sifting through unqualified candidates—often because the job description was unclear from the start.Most job postings are too vague, too long, or filled with corporate jargon. Instead of attracting the right people, they just attract more people, many of whom aren’t a great fit.What to do instead:

• Write how you talk. Keep it clear and direct.
• Cut unnecessary requirements. Focus on skills over credentials.
• Use inclusive language to widen the talent pool.

Fewer irrelevant applications mean less time wasted and shorter hiring cycles, which directly impacts cost savings.

‍4. Automate the Boring Stuff

‍Recruiters spend about a third of their time on repetitive admin—scheduling, screening, follow-ups. That’s time that could be better spent actually hiring.With Popp, companies can automate where it makes sense, so talent teams can focus on people, not paperwork.Some ways to streamline hiring:

• AI-powered screening tools to surface top candidates
• Automated scheduling to move candidates through the pipeline faster
• Real-time hiring analytics to make better decisions

Companies that automate key hiring tasks often cut time-to-hire in half, filling roles faster, reducing costs, and easing recruiter workload. Reducing manual tasks by even 30% can save about $30,000 per recruiter annually.

‍5. Build an Employer Brand That Attracts the Right People

‍The best way to reduce hiring costs? Create a company people want to work for.Seventy percent of candidates research a company before applying. If they don’t like what they see—unclear values, outdated hiring practices, no transparency—they’ll move on. That means more effort (and money) spent trying to convince them.What to do instead:

• Showcase your company culture through real employee stories, behind-the-scenes content, and transparent job postings
• Make salaries, career growth opportunities, and DEI efforts visible to job seekers
• Engage with candidates where they are—social media, industry events, and direct outreach

Companies with strong employer brands spend less on job ads, have shorter hiring cycles, and retain employees longer, all of which reduce costs in the long run.

‍The Bottom Line

‍Cutting hiring costs isn’t about doing less—it’s about doing it better.

• Move away from expensive external recruiters and build in-house hiring strength
• Use referrals to find and retain great talent
• Write job descriptions that attract the right candidates from the start
• Automate the repetitive tasks so recruiters can focus on hiring
• Build an employer brand that makes people want to apply

At Popp, we help talent teams hire faster, smarter, and without the unnecessary overhead. If you’re rethinking your hiring strategy, let’s talk.Want to see how it works? Book a quick demo—no pressure, just smart hiring.