- Author
- Abi Talbot
- Published
- 10th October, 2025
Recruitment can be one of the most expensive factors in an organisation’s budget — particularly for companies in healthcare, social care, construction, IT, finance, and other skills-short sectors. When budgets are tight, it’s natural to ask: How can we spend less on staffing without sacrificing candidate quality or hiring speed?
The good news is that you don’t have to choose between cost savings and top talent. With smart workforce planning, the right agency strategy, and solutions such as Managed Service Providers (MSP) or Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), you can reduce spend while still securing the skilled professionals you need.
At Service Care Solutions, we help UK employers streamline recruitment, reduce overheads, and build sustainable hiring strategies. Here’s how.
1. Audit your current agency usage
Start by understanding exactly how you’re engaging recruitment partners:
- How many agencies are you using? Multiple suppliers can cause duplication, inconsistent rates, and admin burden.
- Are your terms competitive? Many companies pay outdated mark-ups because contracts haven’t been reviewed.
- Where is spend concentrated? Identify high-volume roles or departments where costs spike.
This visibility is the first step to controlling spend. Many organisations are surprised to discover hidden inefficiencies such as overlapping suppliers or paying premium rates for common skill sets.
2. Consolidate your supplier list
While it’s tempting to use different agencies, too many suppliers can actually drive costs up:
- You could lose negotiating power with no single partner delivering volume.
- Candidate quality may drop because agencies feel they’re in a race to send CVs first.
- Internal teams waste time managing multiple relationships and terms.
By consolidating to a smaller, trusted panel — or even moving to a single MSP solution — you gain:
- Volume discounts & better rates.
- Consistent compliance and quality.
- A streamlined hiring process with one point of contact.
3. Consider a Managed Service Provider (MSP)
An MSP staffing solution is where one specialist recruitment partner manages all or most of your temporary staffing:
- They act as a single supplier — consolidating agencies under one contract.
- You gain real-time reporting on spend, time-to-hire, and performance.
- You benefit from bulk purchasing power and standardised mark-ups.
- Compliance, vetting, and onboarding are handled centrally.
For organisations with high volumes of temporary staff (e.g. NHS trusts, local authorities, construction projects), an MSP can save 10–20% or more on agency spend without losing talent quality.
5. Embrace workforce planning
One of the biggest drivers of recruitment cost is last-minute, urgent hiring. When you need staff yesterday, you often:
- Accept higher mark-ups.
- Take the first available candidate (even if not the best fit).
- Pay extra for out-of-hours or rush sourcing.
A workforce planning approach can break this cycle:
- Analyse turnover and seasonal demand.
- Build talent pools for recurring roles.
- Forecast future skill needs based on business growth.
Specialist agencies like us can help you map workforce needs and build ready-to-deploy contractor or temporary pools, cutting emergency spend.
6. Standardise rates and terms
If every hiring manager negotiates separately, you’ll end up with inconsistent and often inflated rates. A single, agreed rate card helps:
- Control spend across departments.
- Benchmark against market averages.
- Simplify approvals and budgeting.
An MSP or trusted recruitment partner like Service Care can advise on competitive market rates so you pay fairly — not excessively.
7. Focus on retention, not just cost per hire
Every time a new hire or temporary worker leaves early, you pay to replace them. Improving onboarding and retention reduces overall spend:
- Ensure temporary staff have clear briefs and induction (see our Onboarding Checklist).
- Provide regular feedback and communication.
- Offer progression or contract extensions where appropriate.
Retention isn’t just a permanent employee metric — keeping great temporary talent engaged saves significant money.
8. Use data to drive decisions
Recruitment shouldn’t be guesswork. Track metrics such as:
- Time to hire
- Agency spend per department
- Turnover rates
- Quality of hire (performance, retention)
Agencies with strong reporting tools can provide dashboards and cost analysis, helping you prove ROI and adjust strategy.
Final thoughts
Cutting recruitment costs doesn’t have to mean sacrificing candidate quality. With smarter supplier management, MSP/RPO solutions, and proactive workforce planning, you can spend less while still attracting and retaining the right people.
At Service Care Solutions, we help UK organisations design cost-effective staffing strategies that maintain compliance, speed, and talent quality. Download our MSP brochure below!