Build, Buy or Borrow?

Every talent decision comes down to three choices: build the skills you need inside the business, buy them through external hiring, or borrow them through flexible and outsourced models. The right mix protects your budget today and your capability tomorrow.

Australian employers face that choice in a market that has eased but not loosened. Shortages persist in trades, health, education and construction, while technology is reshaping the skills every role requires. This guide sets out how CEOs and HR leaders can make smarter talent decisions without falling back on reactive cuts.

Key findings

• 39% of workers' core skills are expected to change by 2030 (World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025).

• 59 in every 100 workers will need reskilling or upskilling by 2030, and 11 of them are unlikely to receive it (WEF, 2025).

• 29% of Australian occupations were in shortage in 2025, down from 36% in 2023. Nearly half of trade roles remain in shortage (Jobs and Skills Australia, 2025).

• Male-dominated occupations had a 48% shortage rate, against 18% for gender-balanced ones (DEWR, 2025).

• An organisation making around 600 hires a year could save about $1.1m annually through recruitment process outsourcing (Harrier Talent Solutions modelling).

Why should employers avoid knee-jerk redundancies?

Large-scale redundancies cut costs quickly but often cost more in the long run, through lost knowledge, damaged reputation and harder hiring when the market recovers. Before cutting roles, look at where your people could add value elsewhere in the business.

Internal mobility is the first lever. Centralised talent teams can pivot from external hiring to redeploying at-risk employees into open roles. That keeps organisational knowledge and saves on external hiring costs.

Be careful which people programs you cut. When Australian employers cancelled graduate intakes during the GFC, talent shortages followed a few years later. Run a full cost-benefit analysis before cutting any program, and understand who carries the impact.

If redundancies are unavoidable, manage them carefully. Voluntary programs tend to lose long-tenured staff and top performers first, which can hurt diversity and intellectual property. Offer outplacement support. It is the right thing to do, and it protects your employer reputation for when you need to hire again.

How does a holistic talent model reduce costs?

Treating talent acquisition and management as one connected function, rather than a set of separate programs, is one of the largest cost-reduction opportunities available. Outsourcing that function to a specialist provider can lower fixed costs while improving quality.

Many businesses have already scaled back recruitment teams and now struggle to respond to applicants quickly. A recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) partner helps manage peaks and troughs in demand. Most RPO models combine a fixed monthly management fee with a fee per successful hire, so the talent function always matches hiring volume.

How much can RPO save?

For an organisation making around 600 hires a year across professional, managerial, trades, retail and volume roles, Harrier's modelling shows an outsourced solution could deliver annualised savings of about $1.1m. The benefits fall into three groups.

A specialist provider also brings expertise that is hard to hold in-house, from employer branding and sourcing to onboarding, retention and inclusion.

Why is skills mapping the foundation of a build strategy?

You cannot build capability you cannot see. Skills mapping shows which skills your people already have, which are at risk from automation and where reskilling will pay off.

Most organisations still plan around roles and headcount rather than skills, work styles and potential. Even with accurate workforce data, they lack the detail needed to act. With 39% of core skills expected to change by 2030, a role-based view goes out of date quickly.

Apply the same rigour to mapping internal skills that you apply to building external talent pools. It turns workforce plans into clear actions for upskilling, reskilling and internal mobility.

Is learning and development worth protecting when budgets tighten?

Yes. Training budgets are often the first to go, yet they are the cheapest way to build the skills you will otherwise have to buy. The WEF projects that 59 in every 100 workers will need reskilling or upskilling by 2030.

L&D need not be expensive. Free online courses from leading universities and platforms, peer-to-peer learning, lunch-and-learn sessions and mentoring programs all build capability at low cost. Set your L&D budget against future skill needs, not last year's spend. Digital transformation is very hard without investing in the people who will deliver it.

How do you know if your talent technology is paying off?

Map your candidate journey, then test each tool against what it is meant to achieve at that step. Many organisations pay for platforms they barely use, or for tools that add steps without adding value.

A typical journey runs through three stages:

1. Awareness and interest: a candidate sees a job ad, visits the careers site, signs up for job alerts or joins a talent pool.

2. Application and selection: they create a profile in the ATS, complete a video interview and application, then a recruiter phone screen, hiring manager interview and reference checks.

3. Hire and onboarding: they accept the offer, complete starter forms, join the onboarding platform, do one-week and one-month check-ins, then give feedback on the process.

At each step, ask for proof of value. Has video interviewing reduced time to hire? Has assessment technology improved new-hire retention? Is your ATS intuitive for candidates, HR and hiring managers? Retire anything that does not improve outcomes. Depending on the size of your function, the savings can be significant.

What makes an employer brand strong when budgets are tight?

Your employer brand is the sum of every interaction people have with your business, so the strongest brands are built through consistent experience, not advertising spend. How you treat staff, candidates and the community says more than any campaign.

The skills, technology and L&D strategies above already tell your people they are valued. Externally, it costs nothing to make every candidate touchpoint positive. Respond to every application, give interviewed candidates constructive feedback, and resource your recruitment team so response times hold up when volumes rise.

Final thoughts

The right mix of build, buy and borrow lets you control costs without sacrificing the people experience or future capability. The knee-jerk tactics of past downturns hurt businesses for years, and in some industries the talent shortages they caused still linger.

Budget pressure and hiring freezes do not have to stall your talent strategy. Focus on the basics, put people first, and plan around skills rather than roles.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How much can recruitment process outsourcing save?
Savings depend on hiring volume and mix. Harrier Talent Solutions' modelling shows an organisation making around 600 hires a year could save about $1.1m annually, mainly through lower agency fees, advertising, technology and in-house resourcing costs.

How is RPO usually priced in Australia?
Most RPO models combine a fixed monthly management fee with a transactional fee for each successful hire. This keeps the talent function matched to actual hiring volumes.

What are the alternatives to redundancy in a downturn?
Options include redeploying staff through internal mobility, temporary secondments, voluntary reductions in hours or pay, and reskilling for roles the business still needs. Redundancy should be the last resort, supported by outplacement services.

Why is skills mapping important for workforce planning?
Skills mapping shows the capabilities a workforce already has and where gaps will open. With 39% of core skills expected to change by 2030, it lets employers plan reskilling and mobility rather than relying on external hiring alone.