Recruiting benchmarks for 2025 are in, and the numbers appear very interesting. On average, 79 applicants per role, 3 are interviewed, and only 1 offer is made. The global median time for making a hire is 38 days. With AI, this process can be completed 26% faster.
That being said, there is still a significant issue with high-volume recruitment. If you have found yourself burdened with overflowing resumes, delayed interview timelines, and poor show rate, you know what we are talking about. The pressure to fill roles without losing quality starts to feel like a steep mountain that is impossible to climb. That’s where Recruitment Process Outsourcing steps in to make the impossible possible. Let’s take a closer look at it in today’s blog.
What’s coming next for you:
- What is Recruitment Process Outsourcing
- How does RPO work
- Challenges with high-volume recruitment
- How does RPO help
What Is Recruitment Process Outsourcing
Hiring ten people in a month is doable. Hiring 100 is a challenge. Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) is a strategic approach whereby you outsource some or all aspects of hiring to a third-party hiring expert. The approach allows you to leverage external expertise in talent acquisition, freeing time to focus on improving business operations.
You may want to outsource only specific aspects of hiring, such as screening or sourcing candidates, or have your RPO partner carry out the entire process from screening to hiring.
How does RPO work?
Here’s a quick overview of how RPO works:
1. Needs Assessment
A third-party expert carries out RPO. Consequently, the RPO experts must first understand your business, its culture, and how hiring will impact your business operations. This may involve speaking to our current employees, understanding the present hiring process from your HR, and going through past hires.
You may wonder, “Will this breach my internal control?” The answer is NO. It may look like that but the real goal is understanding how your business functions daily.
Some of the other aspects that the RPO experts may want to understand about your business may include:
- Which roles have a high turnover?
- Which roles are challenging to fill?
- What could be your future staffing demands based on your growth?
2. Strategy & Solutions
The next step is to create a blueprint of the recruitment process. For instance, which channels are more suitable for sourcing candidates, what should the screening criteria be, and how long should the end-to-end process ideally take? It may also involve highlighting expected challenges and possible solutions to ensure the deadlines are met.
3. Sourcing & Screening
After the blueprint, the actual work begins. The RPO experts will put the plan into action, sourcing candidates, collecting their details, reviewing their resumes, and possibly conducting the initial interviews. They will also perform background checks and reference verification for all candidates.
Imagine the kind of resource you will require to do all of this in-house for not one but 100s and 1000s of candidates.
4. Selection & Onboarding
After the initial screening, the data will be shared with your hiring manager. The RPO experts then coordinate between your hiring manager and the candidate to align expectations and the company’s needs. They also offer structured evaluations and comparisons to help you make an informed decision.
If you’ve opted for offer management, then the RPO expert will create and negotiate the best job offers, ensuring clarity about pay, benefits, and employment terms. Finally, they will support you with the onboarding process and essential paperwork.
Some RPOs may extend their support beyond the hiring process to offer training support, monitor new hires, and facilitate feedback.
Challenges With High-Volume Recruitment
Now that you know what the overall process may look like, what are some of the challenges your business may face for high-volume recruitment? Some of the common ones are explained here:
1. Manual Resume Screening
When applications start pouring in, manually reviewing each resume becomes time-consuming. Your HR team will have to spend valuable hours scanning for relevant skills, experience, and qualifications, only to risk overlooking strong candidates due to human error or fatigue.
It is also quite possible that you may not have a centralized system for screening resumes or the advanced software that makes screening easier. This makes the entire screening process prone to errors.
2. Scheduling Individual Interviews
Communicating with 100 potential candidates at once is no small feat. Scheduling conflicts can arise easily between candidate availability, interviewer calendars, and possible time zone differences. This delays the hiring process, may frustrate candidates, and negatively impacts their overall experience.
3. Maintaining Consistent Evaluation Standards
When several hiring managers are involved, consistency becomes difficult to ensure. The sheer variations in assessment styles and unconscious bias can lead to uneven candidate experiences and questionable hiring outcomes.
4. Candidate Drop-Offs
Time is money. The longer the process, the higher the risk of losing talent. In a highly competitive market, especially in Dubai, top candidates may accept offers elsewhere before you can finalize their applications.
5. Strain on In-House HR Teams
High-volume recruitment demands more resources than most in-house HR teams can handle. It is not easy to juggle everyday responsibilities with sudden hiring spikes. This often results in burnout, miscommunication, or costly mistakes.
Rising Tension
When these challenges appear, the hiring process slows down, and so do efficiency and quality. Instead of finding and recruiting top talent, your team will spend its energy on repetitive tasks, coordination issues, and firefighting problems as they arise.
For companies facing large-scale hiring needs, the stakes are simply too high to rely on outdated or patchwork recruitment methods. This is where Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) comes into play.
How Does RPO Services Help
RPO services go beyond traditional methods, integrating the latest technology and scalable processes to manage recruitment quickly and efficiently.
1. Streamline Resume Screening
RPO experts leverage advanced screening tools and their expertise to quickly identify the right talent. Instead of wasting time on repetitive sorting, the focus shifts to high-quality candidates who actually match the role requirements. This shortens the hiring process and reduces the risk of overlooking strong applicants.
2. Efficient Scheduling
Your RPO partner will have dedicated coordinators who manage the entire process using scheduling tools. This way, candidates receive timely updates without the back-and-forth emails. For you, it means fewer drop-outs and lost time.
3. Consistency in Evaluation
Inconsistent evaluations are one of the biggest risks in large-scale recruitment. An RPO introduces a structured evaluative framework familiar to all its experts. You can rest assured that every candidate is being evaluated without bias solely based on their qualifications and skillset.
4. Reduced Candidate Drop-Offs
The talent market is a game of “who gets to the candidate first.” If your process drags, candidates will move on to other offers. RPOs help prevent this by ensuring faster turnaround times, proactive communication, and consistent follow-ups throughout the recruitment journey. Thus, keeping the candidate in constant communication makes them feel valued and engaged.
HRSG’s RPO Services
HRSG is a leader in recruitment and related services. Spanning over 475+ locations with a team of 55,000+ associates, you can only imagine the speed at which we move without compromising on the quality of the process.
We combine the perfect blend of people, processes, and technology to help you rewire your organization with the best talent. Our on-demand staffing solutions are revolutionizing the way companies hire. The next one could be yours. Contact us today!
