If you’re reading this article then you are possibly considering a partnership with a recruitment or staffing agency.

Staffing agencies provide a lot of benefits in an Irish job market that is favouring employees. They alleviate the pressure of the hiring process, tap into a pool of skilled and relevant candidates, and are a trusted partner when you are in dire need of staff.

But is it profitable to work with a staffing agency? How much does it actually cost?

Let’s take a look at the dynamics of the employer-agency relationship to help you answer that question.

What Does the Staffing Agency Facilitate?

The main responsibility of a staffing agency is to act as an intermediary between the employment candidate and the firm interested in their services.

Essentially, they perform all of the required due diligence during the process and take it off your hands. Think about all of the tasks that go into hiring a staff member. From placing employment ads, finding relevant candidates, assessing their work experience against agreed benchmarks, conducting interviews, narrowing the candidate pool down, and so on. All of that is handled by the agency.

After a candidate has met all of the qualities desired, they are forwarded to you to make the final decision.

Experienced staffing agencies are going through this process on a daily basis. They know how to achieve the outcomes you desire at every stage, and they do it efficiently.

For an in-house recruiter who is only going through this process every now and then, the lead time for placing an appropriate candidate is considerably longer. This lost time is operationally inefficient and costs your company money.

Is it Cost-Effective to Hire a Recruitment Agency?

Whether or not your hiring cost when using an internal recruiter is lower than that of a recruitment agency depends on several factors.

Here are some things to consider:

• Is the person handling the recruitment process internally a full-time recruiter, or do they have another role too? If they have another role, how much will this process detract from their effectiveness in that role?
• Does the internal recruitment manager have a pool of qualified candidates they can draw from at any moment, or do they need to regenerate this every time you need staff? Experienced staffing agencies have built qualified candidate pools over years of operation, which can significantly accelerate the process of finding the right person.
• How will you find relevant candidates during the recruitment process, by running ads? How much will that cost? Will this approach find the right people?
• If you hire a candidate that is not familiar with your operational processes, how much does training cost? How long does it take? In most cases, recruitment agencies provide candidates who are already trained and ready to hit the ground running.
• When you need staff to fill demand because of a big order or unexpected downtime, how long can you afford to wait until the loss in productive hours becomes critical?

After analysing the opportunity cost of hiring a recruitment agency, does it really make sense to handle this process in-house?

Why You Should Partner With An Experienced Staffing Agency

The best recruitment agencies have the candidate pool and experience to place the staff you need, when you need them, at a margin that makes sense for everyone.

Here are some other benefits: 

• Experienced agencies are connected to the market and have useful knowledge. They are aware of the required talent and where to get it.
• Due to their database of interested job applicants, recruitment agencies have a simple reach to the talent you need. Their portfolio of skilled workers is rarely short of the perfect candidate.
• In the long-term, recruitment firms reduce your employment cost and maintain operational efficiency at your business.

How much longer can you remain competitive without the help of a recruitment agency to fill your fluctuating staff demands?