Managing the recruitment process can be one of the most challenging responsibilities for employers and HR professionals. As of 2026, the median time-to-fill is about 39 calendar days for non-executive roles, according to research from SHRM. When balancing day-to-day operations, time dedicated to recruitment can add up significantly, causing businesses to lose productivity while positions remain empty.
When a business is in need of a hire but may not have the resources to recruit talent in-house, employers may turn to a partnership for recruiting. While recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and traditional staffing services are common solutions, they each take a different approach to recruitment.
Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is an HR partnership between a business and a third party where the third party performs a majority or all the recruitment responsibilities on behalf of the business. RPO recruitment is typically a long-term solution for a business looking to relieve its in-house talent efforts beyond single vacant jobs. Essentially, an RPO is an extension of the HR team that helps take over the core tasks in the recruitment process aside from the approval process.
RPOs go beyond standard recruitment and hiring tasks, as many RPOs will offer to perform the following:
Of course, every partnership is different, so the services provided can be tailored to an employer’s needs. In some cases, an RPO may manage the entire recruitment process from workforce planning to a 30-60-90 day onboarding plan, while other partnerships may only provide their services for specific tasks. A complete HR outsourcing service can offer additional tasks beyond standard RPO services, including on-demand support and compliance guidance.
Traditional staffing, generally performed by staffing agencies or headhunting firms, is usually focused on filling specific positions on a vacant-role basis. This means the business communicates with a traditional staffing agency about which role or roles it needs filled, and once complete, the partnership ends until the business requests an additional role.
Because traditional staffing agencies operate with a more transactional approach, this solution is usually seen as a short-term option for businesses that need roles filled sooner rather than outsourcing their entire recruitment process. This also means that recruiters providing traditional staffing services operate under their own business, not as an extension of the HR team, as an RPO would offer.
Generally, employers will not see an optimized recruiting process of their own when choosing a traditional staffing service.
While both approaches can provide recruiting support, their scope and structure can differ significantly.
RPO Services |
Traditional Staffing Services |
| Works as an extension of the HR team | Works under their own brand and company |
| Long-term, ongoing recruitment solution based on hiring needs | Short-term solution for more urgent vacancies or specific job openings |
| Evaluates skill requirements and cultural fit | Exclusively evaluates skill requirements |
| Can develop talent pools for the business | Takes ownership of talent pool |
| Measures and provides recruitment & HR analytics | Focuses on candidate sourcing |
| Typically hires for permanent roles | Commonly hires for temp or seasonal roles |
| Fixed cost structure for services | Per-hire cost structure with added contingency fees |
| Works with the existing payroll and HR platform directly | Uses their own platform to perform recruiting processes |
While both solutions are more effective than managing the hassle that in-house recruiting can have, employers should carefully consider their objectives if they need additional recruiting support.
Employers should consider the following:
Ultimately, based on business needs, an employer should choose either solution in the following scenarios:
Handling the recruitment process alone may not be an easy task. For some businesses, the time and budget may not allow for a comprehensive in-house recruiting solution. However, the benefits of outsourcing HR tasks can make the difference, with companies reporting a 50% reduction in total hiring costs when they use an RPO service to help with the process end-to-end, according to SHRM.
When a business needs a quick hire, traditional staffing might be best, but for a long-term solution to recruitment bottlenecks, an RPO provides ongoing support that helps develop a formal recruiting and onboarding process end-to-end. To make things easier, an RPO will work directly with the existing recruiting and onboarding solution to help streamline processes and reduce unnecessary administrative overhead.
If your business is interested in learning more about RPO services, contact us today and speak to an expert who understands HR outsourcing services, including RPO.