Hiring Models
When is a recruitment agency still the best option?
The short answer
A recruitment agency is often the best option for an unexpected vacancy, a genuinely niche requirement, a short-term hiring spike or a market where a specialist consultant has distinctive relationships. It can also be appropriate when annual hiring volume is too low to justify dedicated capability. The flexibility of paying for an individual outcome remains valuable in the right context.
The conversation about agency use often becomes binary. In reality the model still solves specific problems very well. Understanding where those problems are keeps the decision proportionate and stops a rebalancing exercise from removing capability the company actually needs.
Occasional hiring favours flexibility
When a role appears once every eighteen months, a fixed capability has nothing to do between assignments. Paying for a single outcome is the right commercial shape for that pattern, and a specialist agency will usually reach the market faster than an internal team would from a standing start.
Niche expertise can outweigh cost
Some markets are so narrow that a specialist consultant has spent years building relationships that cannot be replicated in-house. In those cases the fee is buying access, not activity, and the alternative is a slower and lower quality outcome.
Urgent peaks may need external capacity
Unplanned surges in hiring, whether driven by a resignation, a new customer or an acquisition, are precisely where flexible external capacity earns its cost. Bringing in an agency to absorb a short-term spike is often better than distorting the annual operating model.
Low volume may not justify an embedded model
Below a certain annual hiring volume, the fixed cost of embedded or internal capacity is difficult to justify. In those companies, an agency panel remains the most efficient model until hiring becomes more continuous.
What this means in practice
Use an agency when the need is exceptional and the supplier brings clear specialist value that would be inefficient to build internally. Keep the decision proportionate to the scarcity, strategic importance and cost of delay attached to the role.
The Saiyō view
Saiyō sees selective agency use as part of a mature operating model, not a compromise. The right question is not whether to use agencies, but which specific problems they should still be asked to solve when a dedicated capability sits alongside them.
Explored in depth
This topic is explored in more depth within Recruitment Agencies at Scale: Where the Model Works and Breaks.
Frequently asked questions
See this in practice
Move from the concept to the way Saiyō delivers it.
Related questions
When should a company stop relying on recruitment agencies?
A company should reduce agency reliance when external support has become the default for recurring roles rather than a selective response to genuine exceptions. Warning signs include rising annual fees, repeated briefing, inconsistent candidate experience and an internal team that remains unable to build proactive capability. The answer is usually to rebalance the model, not eliminate every agency relationship.
Read the answerAnswerWhy do agency costs rise at scale?
Agency costs rise at scale because most fees are charged per successful hire, so total spend increases broadly in line with recruitment volume. There may be negotiated rates, but the commercial model remains transactional. As hiring becomes continuous, a subscription or internal capability can spread cost across a larger annual plan and lower effective cost per hire.
Read the answerAnswerHow many recruitment agencies should a company use?
A company should use enough agencies to cover genuinely distinct specialisms without creating duplicated effort or inconsistent representation. For most specialist hiring, a small panel with clear role ownership is stronger than a large uncontrolled supplier list. The correct number depends on geography, function and whether internal or embedded teams already provide core coverage.
Read the answerRelated guides
Choosing a Hiring Model for a Technology Scale-up
The right hiring model depends on the pattern of hiring, not the company size. Most mature scale-ups run a deliberate portfolio, not a single provider.
Read the guideAuthority GuideThe Economics of Technology Hiring
Cost per hire is only one variable. Real hiring economics balance total annual investment, speed, quality and the business cost of vacancies remaining open.
Read the guide