The Hidden Costs of Using Multiple Agencies to Hire

What Recruitment Agency Fees Really Cost Your Business

What Are Recruitment Agency Fees?

Recruitment agency fees are charges levied by agencies in exchange for sourcing, vetting, and presenting qualified candidates. These fees can range from 15% to 30%  of a candidate’s annual salary, depending on the role’s seniority and industry standards.

How Fees Are Typically Structured

Agencies often use a contingency-based model, meaning you only pay if a hire is made. While this sounds appealing, it creates competition among multiple agencies, often resulting in rushed candidate placements and duplicated efforts.

Other models include:
• Retained Search – A portion of the fee is paid upfront.
• Flat Fee Recruiting – A fixed amount per placement.
• Temp-to-Perm Fees – Based on hourly rates with conversion charges if hired full-time.

When using multiple agencies, these structures can overlap or conflict, causing administrative complexity and financial strain.

Why Do Companies Use Multiple Recruitment Agencies, and Does It Work?

Why Companies Use Several Agencies

Many businesses believe that casting a wider net will increase the quality and quantity of applicants. They assume multiple agencies will:

• Speed up the hiring process
• Provide a broader talent pool
• Offer competitive pricing

Perceived Benefits vs Reality

While this approach seems smart on the surface, it often leads to misaligned incentives, rushed submissions, and higher long-term costs. More is not always better, especially in recruitment.

How Much More Are You Really Paying with Multiple Recruitment Agencies?

Duplicated Fee Structures and Internal Cost Modelling

In organisations managing multiple agencies, duplicated submissions and invoice disputes are common. Consider this: if your HR team spends 2 hours per week per agency on admin and coordination, at an average internal cost of €60 per hour, then managing just four agencies equates to €1,920 per month in hidden internal costs.

Beyond direct fees, this model burdens your recruitment budget with fragmented commercial arrangements, increasing the likelihood of:

• Misaligned service level expectations
• Overlapping candidate ownership disputes
• Paying higher cumulative commissions for marginal gains

Cumulative Cost of Rehires Due to Mismatched Hires

Agencies competing on speed often push candidates through quickly, bypassing deep cultural or role fit analysis. These mis-hires can cost 30 to 50% of a candidate’s annual salary in rehiring, retraining, and lost productivity, which is rarely accounted for in upfront fee analysis.

Is Managing Multiple Agencies Draining Your Team’s Time?

Operational Disruption from Agency Management

Using multiple agencies adds an unspoken project management layer. HR and talent teams shift from strategic work such as EVP development or workforce planning, to repetitive admin tasks including:

• Explaining job specs multiple times
• Triaging candidate duplicates
• Fielding disputes and managing inconsistent communications

This leads to decision fatigue, bottlenecks, and staff burnout, especially for lean in-house teams.

What Happens When Multiple Agencies Submit the Same Candidate?

Brand Reputation Damage Through Market Saturation

Your employer brand is a market asset. When multiple agencies pitch your role differently or repeatedly, candidates may perceive your company as disorganised or desperate. Worse, some may withdraw entirely, preferring competitors with clearer, more coherent messaging.

Brand confusion also weakens referral pipelines from agency networks that cannot confidently represent your brand narrative.

At a Glance: What Rent a Recruiter Delivers

Choosing the right hiring partner doesn’t just save money it transforms your entire recruitment process. Here’s a snapshot of what our embedded, flat-fee model delivered for just one client:

Results Overview – Kingspan

• €130,000 saved compared to traditional recruitment agency fees

• 37 hires completed across multiple departments

• 359 CVs submitted

• 146 interviews scheduled

• 44 offers made

Embedded Hiring Model Highlights

• Dedicated Talent Partner embedded within the client’s team

• Full ownership of the recruitment lifecycle—from job description creation to offer negotiation

• Weekly hiring syncs with HR and hiring managers

• Real-time labour market insights and feedback loops

• Supported hiring for 30+ unique job titles

Client Feedback

“Rent a Recruiter has offered us cost-effective hiring support with a friendly, approachable team who’ve taken the time to understand our business and managers. The flexibility they provide helps us scale our recruitment efforts up and down as needed.” Amy Joy McConville, Senior HR Officer – Kingspan

Discover more on our embedded talent strategy

Are You Sacrificing Candidate Quality by Using Too Many Agencies?

Inconsistent Screening Standards

Each agency may use different vetting methods. Without a unified standard, you risk:

• Poorly screened candidates
• Inaccurate skill assessments
• Increased turnover

Misalignment in Candidate Fit

Agencies working in competition often prioritise volume and speed over strategic fit. This results in candidates who are technically qualified but not aligned with company values or long-term goals.

Are Multiple Agencies Putting Your Candidate Data at Risk?

Compliance Risk Amplification with GDPR and Contract Mismanagement

Recruitment processes involve sensitive data. When CVs and hiring information are shared across multiple agencies without structured protocols, your company becomes exposed to:

• GDPR non-compliance – from lack of traceable consent
• Contractual conflicts – due to inconsistent ownership periods or terms
• Audit risk – stemming from fragmented records and unclear responsibilities

This distributed model weakens your company’s risk posture and makes compliance difficult to enforce.

Does Using Multiple Agencies Weaken Your Negotiation Power?

Diluted Strategic Partnerships and Commercial Influence

Effective agency relationships thrive on depth, trust, and consistency. Working with multiple agencies undermines:

• Volume-based pricing leverage
• Performance-linked incentives
• Access to exclusive, high-calibre talent

It also prevents agencies from developing a deeper understanding of your business, reducing their ability to act as true hiring partners.

Could Multiple Recruiters Be Hurting Your Employer Brand?

Mixed Messaging and Inconsistent Candidate Experience

When agencies deliver varying narratives to the same talent pool, it causes confusion. Candidates are less likely to trust a brand that appears fragmented or poorly coordinated, and this directly impacts your perceived value as an employer.

Are You Missing Out on Long-Term Talent by Chasing Quick Hires?

Overemphasis on Immediate Hires

Multiple agencies may prioritise fast placements over sustainable fit. This undermines strategic workforce planning and contributes to:

• Higher turnover
• Minimal leadership pipeline development
• Reactive, short-term hiring decisions

Comparing Recruitment Models: Rent a Recruiter vs Multiple Agencies

What Are Smarter Alternatives to Traditional Recruitment Agencies?

On-Demand Hiring with RPOs like Rent a Recruiter

One of the most effective ways to simplify your recruitment process and reduce recruitment agency fees is to engage an on-demand recruitment solution such as Rent a Recruiter. This model allows businesses to outsource some or all of their hiring activities to a dedicated provider that operates as an extension of your internal team.

Unlike traditional agency models, Rent a Recruiter provides embedded recruiters who work closely with your internal stakeholders to deliver:

• Centralised data and process governance
• Reduced compliance and legal risks
• Better alignment with your EVP and company culture
• Real-time access to candidate pipelines and hiring metrics
• Flexible scaling based on hiring needs

This embedded approach ensures your recruitment function is proactive, strategic, and cost-effective, removing the scattergun risk associated with juggling multiple agencies.

What a typical client saves with Rent a Recruiter

Let’s say you’re hiring four roles, each with an average salary of €45,000. If you’re using a traditional agency model with a 15% fee structure (which is fairly standard), you’re looking at:

• €6,750 per hire

• €27,000 total for four hires

That’s €27k before you even factor in internal time spent reviewing CVs, scheduling interviews, and managing multiple agencies all working in silos.

Instead of paying a fee per hire, imagine having a dedicated recruiter embedded within your team, aligned to your culture, goals, and processes. One partner, full transparency, and no per-hire fee.

Instead of paying per hire, in this example savings are estimated at €4,000–€5,000, greater transparency, and a more controlled recruitment process.

FAQs About Recruitment Agency Fees

Is Using Multiple Recruitment Agencies Worth the Cost?

For HR and talent leaders, the decision to use multiple recruitment agencies should not be taken lightly. While it may promise speed and reach, the hidden costs in recruitment agency fees, brand confusion, compliance risk, and internal inefficiency can far outweigh any short-term gains.

The most effective approach involves strategic consolidation, strong partnerships, and a focus on quality over quantity. Whether through a trusted exclusive agency or a well-developed internal team, your recruitment model must align with your company’s long-term vision and values.

Scale Smarter

Ramp hiring up or down with ease. Our rolling contracts help you scale without sacrificing quality.