- Fixed monthly fee
- 2–3 recruiters on your team
- Offered by Dataforge
Recruitment process outsourcing: a hiring team for a monthly fee.
With RPO, a team of recruiters runs part or all of your hiring as if they were in-house: sourcing, screening, interviews, offers and the process behind them. You pay a fixed monthly fee sized by your hiring plan and scale it up or down as you grow.
rpo: q4-hiring-plan
6/6 filledHiring plan agreed
6 roles · 90 days
Team assigned
3 recruiters · 120 h / month
Pipeline running
140 applicants · 24 interviews
Roles filled
6 of 6 · offers signed
1 day
to start once the contract is signed
2–3
recruiters on a typical team
€30–75K
a year: one senior in-house recruiter
3 mo
a common minimum term
How it works
A subscription to a recruitment team
You size the team by your hiring plan; the provider brings the recruiters, the tools and the process.
Key facts
- Commitment
- High
- How you pay
- Fixed monthly fee
- Typical cost
- Sized by open roles
- Replacement guarantee
- The team reopens the role
- Recruiting tools paid by
- RPO provider
Offered by Dataforge
How it works
Recruitment process outsourcing means an external partner takes over some or all of your talent acquisition: sourcing, screening, interviews, offers and the processes behind them.
You pay a fixed monthly fee for an agreed period, sized by how many roles you need to fill. A team of recruiters works for you, each with a set number of hours per month.
Typical market examples
- Roles: 2 support, 2 operations, 1 accountant, 1 office manager
- 6 roles
- Team: 2–3 recruiters, up to 120 h / month
- €9,700 / month
- All roles filled in 90 days: 3 × €9,700
- €29,100 total
A typical engagement
How an RPO engagement runs
Hiring plan
We go through the roles, deadlines and budget, and size the team and monthly hours.
Setup
Job ads, applicant tracking, interview stages and scorecards are set up with you within days.
Hiring
The team sources, screens and interviews, and reports weekly on every role's pipeline.
Scale
As roles close or new ones open, we resize the team month by month.
Cost calculator
Estimate RPO costs
See the total and the cost per role, next to what one in-house recruiter would cost for the same period.
Estimate
- Total RPO cost
- €29,100
- Cost per role
- €4,850
- One in-house recruiter, same period
- €12,500
Estimate only. The in-house figure excludes benefits, equipment, training and tools, which RPO includes.
Pros and cons
What RPO gives you, and what to watch for
Advantages
Cost-efficient
One senior recruiter costs €30K–€75K a year before benefits, equipment and training. For a similar budget, RPO gives you a team of two or three.
Starts right away
Building an in-house team takes months; an RPO project can start within a day of signing.
Skilled from day one
No ramp-up, and no need to hire your recruiters first.
Scales with you
Add recruiters as you grow, scale down when hiring slows, or pause between hiring waves.
Technology included
Applicant tracking, assessment tools and sourcing databases are part of the service.
Employer brand and candidate experience
Embedded recruiters learn your culture and present it consistently to every candidate.
Market knowledge
Salary benchmarks, talent supply and trends for your roles and locations.
Disadvantages
You don't pick each recruiter
The provider builds the team, though you can ask for changes.
Minimum term
Contracts often run for at least three months.
Headhunting can cost extra
Rare roles that need executive-style headhunting can take extra time and a separate fee.
Is it right for you?
When RPO makes sense, and when it doesn't
RPO pays off when hiring is a steady or growing workload, not a once-a-year event.
Good fit
Choose it when
- You don't have an in-house recruiter
- You have many open roles and many applicants
- You're building recruitment from zero
- Your company is growing fast
- Your hiring is seasonal or temporary
- You want a long-term partner
Poor fit
Look elsewhere when
- You hire one or two people a year
- You only need sourcing or interview help (consider hourly)
- You need one key hire with a guarantee (consider installment)
Comparison
RPO vs an in-house recruiter vs agencies
| RPO | In-house recruiter | Agencies (contingency) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Fixed monthly fee | €30K–€75K a year + benefits | 15–30% per hire |
| Time to start | Days | Months to hire | Days |
| Capacity | 2–3 recruiters, scalable | One person | Depends on the agency |
| Tools | Included | Bought by you | The agency's own |
| Employer brand | Built with you | Built by you | Rarely considered |
| Best for | Many roles, fast growth | Steady long-term hiring | Occasional urgent roles |
FAQ
RPO FAQ
What is RPO?
Recruitment process outsourcing: an external team runs part or all of your recruitment, from sourcing to offers, for a fixed monthly fee.
How much does RPO cost?
It depends on the number of roles and recruiter hours. For example, six roles over three months with two or three recruiters at €9,700 a month comes to €29,100, under €5,000 per role.
Is RPO cheaper than an in-house recruiter?
Often. A senior in-house recruiter costs €30K–€75K a year before benefits, equipment and tools, and takes months to hire. RPO gives you a team and its tools for a comparable budget, and you can scale it down.
How fast can RPO start?
Usually within a working day of signing. We start with a hiring-plan session, and the first job ads can go live the same week.
Is there a minimum term?
Most RPO contracts run at least three months, about as long as a hiring wave takes. After that you can extend, resize or pause.
Can RPO cover non-technical roles?
Yes. RPO works well for customer support, operations, finance and office roles alongside engineering, data and product.
Other pricing models
Compare it with the other recruitment models
Each model trades cost, speed and commitment differently.
- Not offered by DataforgePerformance-basedYou pay only when a candidate the agency sent you is hired.Commitment: LowRead the guide: Performance-based (contingency) recruitment
- Offered by DataforgeHourlyYou buy a recruiter's time and point it at the roles or tasks that matter most.Commitment: MediumRead the guide: Hourly-billed recruitment
- Offered by DataforgeInstallmentA placement fee split into stages, in exchange for a dedicated, accountable recruiter.Commitment: HighRead the guide: Installment (retained) recruitment
Planning several hires?
Book a 30-minute call. We'll go through your hiring plan and propose an RPO team and monthly fee within one business day.