11-Apr-2025
According to The Economic Times, 96% of Indian employers are looking to ramp up hiring efforts in 2025. It shows a bright future for employees and employers alike. However, this positive news does mean companies will have to compete for staff, streamline hiring processes, and navigate the recruitment market. Firms must identify the staffing type and even the recruitment and hiring differences to ensure smooth accrual of skilled and adequate staff numbers.
Two options that stand out are traditional and bulk hiring, which are widespread. This blog looks at both and where they differ, helping business owners make the right decision.
What is Bulk Hiring?
Bulk hiring, meaning mass recruitment, is a widespread practice of starting a recruitment drive to hire for multiple positions or multiple candidates.
Companies in IT, BFSI, BPO, Manufacturing, or Retail industries require skilled and unskilled staff. They need volumes of staff to fill their workforce and suit immediate requirements.
Using large-scale recruitment successfully helps firms in these industries and lowers expenses and time consumption.
Mass recruitment meaning getting high numbers of new staff, optimises the staffing process without risking extended costs and allows firms to close more positions instantly!
What is Traditional Hiring?
Traditional hiring focuses more on a company-controlled hiring process to fill individual positions.
The process follows a stricter screening and selection process to ensure quality and focus on skills and cultural fit. Most companies in specialised fields are familiar with this form of hiring.
Key Differences Between Bulk Hiring and Traditional Hiring
Distinct differences are visible when stacking traditional and bulk hiring head to head. There are specific pointers to study before settling down and selecting one of these options.
1. Hiring Volume & Speed
As the name suggests, high-volume hiring results in faster staffing and at scale. It allows firms to simultaneously hire for the same position or various ones without extensively expanding their budget.
Traditional recruitment follows a different speed and is often slower, catering to smaller staffing volumes.
2. Candidate Sourcing Methods
More often than not, volume recruitment occurs directly through a company-sponsored hiring drive or partnering with one of the best staffing companies in India.
Traditional methods follow a broader approach and make use of job portals, digital advertising, company website career pages, or hiring a top contract recruitment agency in India.
3. Screening & Selection Process
Screening and selection processes occur when hiring for multiple positions or vacancies but are less stringent. It's up to the recruiting authority or the best staffing agencies in India how strict they want to be about screening.
The regular form of recruitment follows a multi-round screening and selection process. It assesses candidates at every round and ensures the final candidate is capable and outperforms the rest.
4. Cost & Resource Allocation
Naturally, a specialised experience like in traditional hiring will attract higher costs. It uses more time and people, leading to a greater resource demand.
It's not the case for staffing in large numbers, which follows an efficient process that uses fewer resources. It's the safer bet for firms that lack immense resources like time and money.
5. Candidate Experience
Candidates who go through the regular staffing process curated by the firm have a better candidate experience. It allows recruiters more time and resources to make a positive impression.
Of course, the bulk staffing option can be helpful when partnering with professional and top staffing agencies in India.
It's up to organisations to choose the option that suits their needs perfectly! If employer branding is a leading concern, creating a traditional and personalised process is vital.
6. Suitability for Different Business Needs
Onboarding in large numbers is beneficial and a mandatory move for companies in industries that require massive workforces.
However, bulk hiring is not ideal for IT, BFSI, and telecommunication organisations where specialised skills and experience are necessary to improve work quality and output.
Choosing Between Bulk Hiring vs. Traditional Hiring
Making the selection between the two can be a make-or-break moment, and business owners must look at it from multiple viewpoints.
- Number of positions: If numerous staff are needed, firms benefit from high-volume hiring.
- Time: Adequate time allows for a longer recruitment process, but needing plenty of staff at a specific time requires larger staffing efforts.
- Budget: Hiring in mass is a clear winner for companies with lower budgets, while firms with funds can create custom hiring plans.
- Position type: Top-level positions take time to fill as a clear and thorough screening and testing phase is necessary, making traditional staffing best for filling them.
How Staffing Agencies Can Help You With Bulk Hiring
Staffing agencies in India have been a revelation for Indian companies over the years.
They are a reliable source of contract, temporary, and permanent recruitment services. Firms that want to hire in bulk but don't know where to start can hire a staffing firm.
They can help you because they:
- Know the compliance and legal aspects of bulk onboarding.
- They are experts in sourcing numerous matching candidates.
- These efficient firms have effective processes that lead to cost and time savings without compromising candidate quality.
- They have a pre-vetted network of candidates who can work immediately.
- Their thorough screening processes will select the best staff.
Conclusion
Choosing between an all-at-once bulk recruitment drive or an individual (traditional) hiring approach is never simple. However, a clearer idea of the differences can make the decision easier.
Firms can make the best decision by understanding each option and which suits your business needs best.
If you need help deciding between bulk recruitment or traditional hiring, contact us for a professional assessment.
FAQs
What is bulk hiring, and how is it different from traditional hiring?
The two options vary in their speed, recruitment numbers, and focus. Bulk hiring focuses on recruiting many staff for the same or different roles. The other option is to hire one at a time for open positions.
What KPIs should I track to measure the success of bulk vs. traditional hiring?
Some KPIs a firm can track to check the success of the two staffing services include cost per hire, time to hire, quality of hire, turnover rate, retention rate, application completion rate, offer acceptance rate, and interview-to-offer ratio.
Does bulk hiring compromise candidate quality?
Bulk recruitment can compromise the quality of candidates if firms don't follow the correct process. Partnering with an expert recruiter or agency can help bypass the flaws of mass hiring. These experts will follow a proven process but do it quicker so time is available, and candidates are up to the expected standard.
How can bulk hiring help us save time and resources?
It works to increase the number of candidates hired without extending the processes and budget. It allows companies to fulfil many staffing needs in one hiring session, saving time and resources. Also, firms that need many staff simultaneously can use this staffing method over others.
Does bulk hiring help reduce recruitment costs?
A bulk hiring process lowers recruiting costs and improves a company's budget allocation. It eliminates the need to undertake several different recruitment processes at varying times. Firms that are going through time times or have a great staff requirement can select this option.