Hiring in the tech sector has remained utterly robust now, more than ever. The latest data for August 2022 shows that tech companies collectively padded their personnel by 25,500 new employees last month. This number brings year-round hiring to date to 175,700 jobs, 46 percent higher than last year and almost double the number of tech personnel hired in 2019.
Amid this highly competitive tech job market, have you ever considered working with a staffing agency? While almost all companies may have an in-house recruiting team, many hiring managers have turned to recruitment agencies to replace or, at the very least, complement their hiring efforts. As hiring managers, are you considering doing the same thing?
To keep you appropriately guided, let us flesh out the pros and cons of in-house recruitment versus getting the services of a staffing agency in hiring top IT talent. As hiring managers, you must make informed decisions regarding the hiring process to keep your organization forward-looking and in top shape. Let this article help you strike that balance.
In-House Recruitment and Recruitment Agencies: What is the Difference?
In-house recruiters form a team to get the job done. They delegate work accordingly to advance the hiring process. More often, as part of the company’s HR Department, they perform applicant screening, facilitate job interviews, present job offers, and lead in onboarding new hires. Since they are part of the company’s HR team, in-house recruiters are part of the company’s payroll. They also receive company-mandated benefits.
On the other hand, recruitment agencies perform candidate pooling by posting job advertisements on a wide array of platforms. They perform CV filtering and profile matching to recommend top talent to their partner organizations. They act as middlemen, initiating recruitment efforts on behalf of the company. Companies then pay recruitment agencies for every successful new hire.
While it seems like in-house recruiters and staffing agencies are performing the same functions, their daily operations are worlds apart. Therefore, as hiring managers, it’s best to discern whether to keep your recruitment in-house or if it is already time to partner with a recruitment agency to get the job done.
In-House Recruitment: Advantages and Disadvantages
PROS:
More Strategic
In-house recruitment involves long-term planning and is, therefore, more strategic. Additionally, being part of the company, in-house recruiters benefit from a more thorough consultation with top management. Thus, you can align your hiring needs with the company’s long-term vision and direction.
More Attuned to the Company Culture
In-house recruiters also have the advantage of greater visibility in the general hiring process. Specifically, hiring managers can inject the company culture throughout the recruitment process. You can also shape the company’s brand and trajectory with the quality of your hires. Hiring managers can also find greater value in collaborating with you if you can evaluate and review the performance of your recruitment team since they all report to you.
CONS:
Many companies also find the limitations of in-house recruitment significant. It leads them to consider working with staffing agencies to transcend these limitations.
Limited Knowledge About the Market
In-house recruiters may lack the knowledge of recruiting at the C-suite level or highly technical roles, with the latter being the norm in the tech sector. Since you are expected to fill job vacancies company-wide, many of your staff probably possess limited knowledge in filling specific job vacancies in the organization. For specific roles, recruitment agencies sometimes know better than their in-house counterparts.
Lacks a Sense of Urgency
Another infamous practice among in-house recruiters is the lack of urgency. Indeed, countless managers have had brushes with hiring managers for the perceived lack of urgency in filling crucial vacancies in the company. The delayed hiring often results in a disruption in operations, which could, in turn, lead to a decrease in profit or revenue.
Limited Platforms to Do a Job Search
In many instances, the perceived lack of a sense of urgency cannot be blamed on internal recruiters not doing their job. Often, this is a consequence of internal recruiters lacking the proper channels and a significant pool of candidates to fill company vacancies as soon as possible. In short, their reach is often very limited as they rely on limited channels and platforms.
More Costly
A perennial question that you should also ask yourself as a hiring manager is if your company truly has a long-term hiring plan and if there is a significant number of positions to be filled that merit the organization to have an in-house recruitment team. It is an important consideration because maintaining an internal recruitment team is costly because they will be part of your regular payroll.
Recruitment Agency: Advantages and Disadvantages
PROS:
More Results-Driven than Process Driven
Studies show that recruitment agencies align their business models with marketing and sales principles. This makes the process truly meritocratic, objective, and less political. Moreover, adapting marketing principles in the hiring process enables staffing agencies to be disciplined and cost-effective.
More Expertise on Getting Passive Talents
Recruitment agencies have a large pool of active and passive candidates which automatically gives them a wider reach when rummaging through these profiles to fill key positions. They not only rely on active jobseekers because they can also activate passive leads and pivot their interest towards a specific job opening.
More Platforms to Do a Job Search
Recruitment agencies are also able to maximize job ads to attract top talent. It is not enough to just post a job vacancy in a very competitive and in-demand job sector such as IT and tech. In fact, it is often a downfall for many internal recruiters. Staffing agencies can also maximize the “What’s in it for me” factor in their job ads. It enables them to attract more job candidates.
Time-Saving
As a hiring manager, you need to know that there is one precious commodity that recruitment agencies can help you with – time. If your company needs additional personnel, working with an experienced staffing agency saves you time and effort. Staffing agencies can create comprehensive and attractive job descriptions, vet candidates, oversee the application process, and do most, if not all, of the paperwork before a candidate gets on board.
CONS:
Talent Acquisition Per Candidate Could Be More Expensive
Staffing agencies implement markups on the salaries of candidates that their partner employer has accepted. The latest data shows that staffing agencies mark up candidate salaries by 15-25 percent, which is an added cost to the company.
Less Attuned to the Internal Company Culture
Companies that have outsourced their recruitment efforts also tend to expose their candidates to a wider culture gap, as external recruiters are not immersed in the company culture. Therefore, as hiring managers, you may also need to talk more with your partner staffing agency for them to better understand the overall type and quality that your organization is looking for in a job candidate. This is vital because data shows that 77 percent of job candidates value company culture before accepting a job offer.
READY TO WORK WITH A RECRUITMENT AGENCY? CONSIDER PARTNERING WITH DAVIS COMPANIES.
An industry expert in supplying top IT talent, Davis Companies has over three decades of outstanding experience in technical staffing. Find better candidates by tapping into their pool of candidate profiles that can be matched to your company’s needs and preferences. Know WHY it is infinitely better to work with a recruitment agency than in-house recruitment. Boost your hiring practices the Davis way by contacting us today.
