Why don't most organisations know what recruitment really costs?
Because the costs sit in different budgets. Recruiter salaries are in HR. Agency fees are in each business unit. Advertising is in marketing. The ATS licence is in IT. Contractor spend is in procurement. Hiring managers' time isn't counted at all.
Add it up and the true cost of hiring is usually far higher than the TA team's budget suggests.
Scenario "My TA team is two people and we're drowning"
Nadia (illustrative) is Head of People at a 1,200-person logistics and services business making around 350 hires a year. Her two recruiters handle the volume roles, but every specialist or urgent role goes to agencies. Last year that cost more than both recruiters' salaries combined.
Hiring managers complain about slow shortlists, candidates complain about never hearing back, and Nadia can't build a case for more headcount. She doesn't need another recruiter. She needs to see the full cost of hiring in one place and compare it with a different model.
What savings can RPO deliver?
Harrier groups the business case into three types of value.
Cashable savings (direct cost reductions)
In-house fixed costs in HR, recruitment and administration
Recruitment agency fees
Contingent worker spend
Advertising
Technology, including the ATS and add-on tools
Non-cashable value: quality
Stronger hiring controls and compliance
Faster time-to-hire using talent pools
Better EVP, candidate communication and engagement
Higher quality of hire and hiring manager satisfaction
Better retention and internal mobility
Lower training and onboarding costs from fewer early leavers
More diverse shortlists
Non-cashable value: productivity
Streamlined, automated processes
HR administration time saved on checks, contracts and onboarding
Hiring manager time returned to running the business
How is RPO priced?
Most RPO models combine a fixed monthly management fee with a variable fee per successful hire. That means your recruitment cost tracks your hiring volume. When hiring slows, so does your spend; when it surges, capacity scales without a long hiring process for recruiters.
In Harrier's modelling, a business making around 600 hires a year across professional, trades, retail and volume roles could achieve annualised savings of around $1.1 million through an outsourced model.
| Model | Cost structure | Best for | Watch out for |
| In-house TA team | Fixed salaries, plus agency overflow | Stable, predictable hiring volumes | Overflow to agencies at peak; capacity gaps |
| Agency (contingent) recruitment | Fee per hire, typically a percentage of salary | Occasional specialist roles | High cost at volume, little brand control |
| RPO | Management fee plus per-hire fee | Medium to high volume, fluctuating demand, multiple role types | Needs clear SLAs and governance |
Where does Harrier fit?
Harrier has delivered RPO for Australian employers since 2007, as a 100% Australian-owned partner. We're technology vendor agnostic, so we work inside your existing ATS rather than forcing a re-platform, and our embedded teams are backed by a Community of Experts in recruitment marketing, campaign support and market intelligence.
We measure ourselves against the KPIs that matter to your business case: cost per hire, direct fill rate, spend against budget, time to shortlist and offer, and quality of hire.
"Delivery on schedule comes after a year in which rival miners like Mineral Resources, St Barbara and Foretscue Metals have reported cost blow outs or production downgrades on the back of a labour shortage in WA." BHP South Flank RPO
FAQs
What is RPO? Recruitment process outsourcing is when an employer transfers all or part of its recruitment function to an external provider, which acts as an extension of its team.
How much does RPO cost? Most models combine a monthly management fee with a per-hire fee. The total depends on hiring volume, role mix and scope.
Is RPO only for large companies? No. Mid-market employers making 100 or more hires a year, or facing volatile demand, often see the biggest relative savings.
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