Written by Sally-Ann King | 6th November 2025
With applicant markets saturated and candidate quality harder to assess, many businesses are finding recruitment more time-consuming and uncertain than ever. Recent data from Indeed shows that as of August 2025, the UK unemployment rate stands at 4.7%, meaning that there are now 2.3 unemployed candidates for every vacancy. With more candidates per vacancy, sifting through applications and managing other stages of the recruitment process have naturally become more challenging. These challenges can result in a longer hiring process which is where outsourcing recruitment comes in.
Working through the challenges of recruiting to find the right person for the job is essential but so is protecting your time and resources. Here are 5 ways outsourcing recruitment services, whether for specific stages or end-to-end support, can help you tackle these challenges.
Look out for this icon throughout this blog, where we’ve highlighted practical recruitment tips you can implement straight away – whether you choose to outsource or manage hiring in-house.
1 – Streamline the process through outsourcing recruitment
With recruitment demands growing and resources stretched, it’s easy for hiring to become a bottleneck. Streamlining your process – whether internally or with specialist support – brings structure and speed. Too many applicants, too few who fit? Struggling with other blockages in your recruitment process? Here’s how to tackle it:
- Create clear screening criteria before advertising to ensure you target the right candidates
- Use skills-based assessments early in the process to quickly filter for essential abilities
- Consider psychometric testing for recruitment to evaluate candidates for both role requirements and cultural fit
- Implement a structured shortlisting or CV sifting process
- If you’re still overwhelmed, consider bringing in outsourced support where necessary to help
Taking control of your process will result in less time wasted and better hiring decisions. One of the benefits of outsourcing recruitment is that it provides the expertise and flexibility to fill the gaps exactly where you need it, ensuring a more efficient and effective hiring process.
2 – Gain access to flexible, tailored recruitment support
Outsourcing recruitment doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Some businesses need support across the entire hiring process, while others just need help with specific challenges. The flexibility means you can bring in expertise where it’s needed most, without handing over complete control. Whether it’s the initial stages, final steps or anything in between that needs refinement, working with an outsource recruiting company will allow you to cherry-pick from services such as:
- Job design and advertising
- Screening applications and CV sifting
- Managing candidate and recruiter enquiries
- Shortlisting and interviews
- Assessment and onboarding
- Recruitment support and advice throughout the process
Recruitment tip: Not ready to outsource your recruitment? Start by auditing your hiring process internally to highlight where your challenges lie. Request a free 30-minute discussion on auditing your recruitment process.
3 – Reduce recruitment related costs while staying compliant
Reducing recruitment costs involves making the process more efficient and focused whilst remaining compliant. As mentioned earlier, in competitive or saturated applicant markets, a lot of time can be taken sifting through unsuitable applications, which adds hidden costs and delays hiring decisions. By outsourcing parts of the recruitment process to dedicated specialists, you only pay for the support you actually need, while keeping the process moving efficiently from start to finish. At the same time, recruitment specialists can help ensure your hiring practices remain fully compliant with legal requirements, such as discrimination laws outlined by ACAS, giving you confidence that your process is both fair and robust. Having help from experts not only controls costs but also reduces risk.
Recruitment tip: Efficiency and compliance don’t have to compete. A well-structured recruitment process that builds in the legal requirements from the start saves time and reduces risk without slowing you down.
4 – Protect your brand and optimise candidate experience
Employer branding is increasingly important: CIPD’s 2024 Resourcing and Talent Planning report found that 81% of organisations were taking action to improve their employer brand. The way candidates experience your recruitment process can have a direct impact on your employer brand. It’s easy for candidate communication to slip, especially when you’re handling high volumes of applications. Poor candidate communication leaves a negative impression. Outsourcing can help here as it will ensure every candidate receives consistent, professional engagement, helping to protect your organisation’s reputation. By maintaining a smooth, respectful, and transparent candidate experience, you not only attract the right talent but also reinforce a positive perception of your business in the market.
5 – Strengthen retention with better hiring decisions
Good recruitment looks beyond filling roles – it builds long-term fit and retention. When hiring decisions are rushed or based on incomplete assessments, the cost shows up later in turnover, lost productivity, and team disruption. A structured recruitment process that evaluates not just skills but cultural fit, career motivations, and long-term potential helps you hire people who stay and grow with your business. This means better onboarding outcomes and reduced rehiring costs. Recruitment outsourcing can support this by bringing in expertise to design more thorough assessment processes, conduct deeper candidate evaluations, and identify red flags early. The result is a workforce that’s more engaged, better aligned with your goals, and more likely to stay.
Recruitment tip: For more guidance on building effective recruitment and retention strategies, explore our complimentary 2025 recruitment and retention guide. We designed this guide to help employers attract, recruit and retain a talented workforce.
A summary of how outsourcing recruitment can solve hiring challenges
To summarise, outsourcing your recruitment can bring clarity, speed and flexibility to your hiring process. You can cherry-pick the available services to suit your specific challenges – whether that’s the entire recruitment cycle or just particular stages where you need support. This gives you access to tailored expertise while keeping you compliant with employment law. It protects your employer brand through consistent, professional candidate communication and optimises the experience from first contact to onboarding. Finally, it strengthens retention by helping you make better hiring decisions based on thorough assessment and cultural fit.
Final recruitment tip: Whether you’re tackling recruitment in-house or considering external support, the key is having a structured, consistent process. Start by identifying your biggest hiring challenge, then decide if you need specialist help or just better tools. Whatever you choose, make sure it works for your business, your budget, and your goals.
Not sure if outsourcing recruitment is right for your business? Click the button below to download our complimentary 2025 recruitment and retention guide in order to help assess your current process and identify where you might benefit from additional support.
Download your free 2025 recruitment and retention guide
If you’d like to discuss your specific challenges or get a second opinion on your recruitment approach, click the button below to visit our recruitment support page and book your complimentary 30-minute discussion.
Book your complimentary 30-minute discussion
If you have any questions, please get in touch with our team by emailing: info@realityhr.co.uk or calling: 01256 328 428
About the author: Sally-Ann King, Recruiter
Sally-Ann is a very knowledgeable recruiter with over 30 years of experience recruiting across many disciplines and sectors. She has extensive experience of the Graduate and Apprentice market and has recruited for many roles including C-Suite and Senior Teams. Her familiarity with various interviewing techniques enables her to select only the best candidates.
She knows the importance of candidate care and despite the outcome of screening and selection, will always engage with the candidates to let them know. Building candidate relationships is vital during the journey. She recognises that recruitment is a two-way process, ensuring not only the candidate is right for the business but that the business is right for the candidate, and they are treated respectfully throughout.