When to Use RPO vs. Traditional Recruiting for Global Hires
Hiring across borders sounds exciting until you hit the wall: compliance headaches, slow processes, and no local recruiting support. If you’re an HR leader at a growing company in the UK, EU, or GCC, you’ve probably wondered whether to keep building your team in-house or bring in outside help. The right answer depends on what you’re solving for.
Let’s break it down.
Two Paths: Traditional Recruiting vs. RPO
Traditional recruiting usually means your in-house team or a local agency fills open roles. It’s straightforward but limited. You pay per hire, often 20–30% of salary.
RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) means you outsource some or all of your recruiting to a partner who works under your brand. They manage sourcing, interviews, onboarding, and compliance across regions. You pay a monthly fee or per-hire rate.
The Global Hiring Problem for Mid-Sized Companies
Here’s where things get messy:
- Your recruiter in Manchester can’t screen developers in Dubai.
- Saudi labor law requires specific contracts your team hasn’t seen.
- Spanish candidates are ghosting interviews because your process is too slow.
You’re not alone. Mid-sized companies often underestimate what it takes to hire globally with precision.
What RPO Solves That Traditional Recruiting Can’t
Let’s skip the numbered list. Here’s what we’ve seen firsthand:
When a European client needed to fill 40 warehouse roles in the UAE, their internal TA team didn’t know where to start. Their local agency in London had no reach in the Gulf. An RPO partner jumped in with recruiters who spoke Arabic, screened candidates locally, and ran onboarding through a local EOR. Time-to-fill dropped by 5 weeks.
Another client, a hospitality group based in Munich, tried hiring in Riyadh using their own HR team and an agency in Dubai. Interviews dragged, offer drop-off was high, and they had visa delays. Once they moved to an RPO model, one team managed sourcing, interview coordination, and immigration paperwork under one SLA.
What’s different?
- Speed: RPOs keep candidate pipelines warm across time zones.
- Cost control: Volume hiring through RPO typically cuts per-hire costs vs. agencies.
- Consistency: Candidates in Jeddah and Paris get the same branded experience.
- Coverage: Need someone on the ground in Bucharest next week? RPO has that.
When Traditional Recruiting Still Works
Traditional methods still make sense in a few cases:
- You’re hiring 3–5 roles a year in one country.
- You already have recruiters who know the local market.
- You need a headhunter for one specialized executive role.
- You want flexibility and no long-term contracts.
But once volume increases or you’re hiring in unfamiliar regions, the cracks show quickly.
Is RPO Right for You?
Start with a gut check. Think about:
- Are you expanding into a country where you don’t know the hiring norms or legal obligations?
- Is your TA team overloaded—or relying on agencies with no long-term payoff?
- Are candidates ghosting or dropping off because your process is too slow?
- Do you know how to handle things like Saudi Arabia’s sponsorship requirements or GDPR-compliant onboarding in Germany?
If those questions hit a little too close to home, it’s time to look seriously at RPO.
Final Word
RPO isn’t for everyone. But if you’re hiring across borders, under pressure, or in new markets, it gives you the recruiting horsepower and compliance cover to keep moving fast.
We work with mid-sized firms across the UK, EU, and GCC who don’t want to waste time juggling agencies or risking non-compliance. They want a single recruiting engine that runs lean, local, and on-brand.