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.
