It’s no surprise to say that the recruitment industry is extremely dynamic - and as agencies scale, challenges evolve in fascinating ways. But one thing remains constant: the thirst for data that reveals what “good” looks like.
This month, we’re rolling up our sleeves to explore the key trends and benchmarks shaping the industry in 2024 through the lens of agencies of all sizes. And spoiler alert: size DOES matter!
If you’ve ever wondered how your numbers stack up against other agencies of your scale, or what larger (or smaller) agencies are achieving, then this report is for you.
Diving into the performance of over 300 agencies and thousands of consultants worldwide, we’re segmenting our insights by consultant numbers to deliver actionable benchmarks and trends. From job volume and placements to revenue efficiency and consultant productivity, we’re here to share exactly what goes on behind the curtain in the world of recruitment with data you can trust.
Ready to dig in? Let’s go!
| What's covered: | What you'll learn: | Who this is for: |
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Split by number of consultants to an agency, this report explores both agency and consultant averages for the following metrics: The agency sizes mentioned throughout this report are grouped as follows: |
Key metric trends throughout the last 12 months (1 Dec 2023 - 30 Nov 2024), plus recommendations for areas of focus for each agency size. You’ll also learn key consultant and agency benchmarks, differences in performance according to agency size and what’s working right now across the industry. |
If you’re a recruitment agency CEO/Founder looking for industry benchmarks, a manager/team lead looking to benchmark your team's performance, or a consultant looking to step up your game, this one’s for you! |
Consultant and Agency Benchmarks
Funnel Ratios
According to the data, the value of a placement decreases as agency size increases. The activity that goes into filling a placement (CVs sent, jobs added and total interviews arranged) also consistently decreases as the number of consultants grow, suggesting agencies become more efficient as they scale. Here’s a visualisation of how these activity ratios change depending on the size of the agency:.svg)
The following ratios are what the average recruiter achieved on a monthly basis throughout the last 12 months:
Agencies with 1-19 consultants:
- 7.5 CVs sent = 1 placement = £6,009
- 2.2 jobs added = 1 placement = £6,009
- 3.2 interviews arranged = 1 placement = £6,009
Agencies with 20-49 consultants:
- 4.1 CVs sent = 1 placement = £3,260
- 1.6 jobs added = 1 placement = £3,260
- 1.8 interviews arranged = 1 placement = £3,260
Agencies with 50-99 consultants:
- 3.0 CVs sent = 1 placement = £3,258
- 1.3 jobs added = 1 placement = £3,258
- 1.4 interviews arranged = 1 placement = £3,258
Agencies with 100+ consultants:
- 1.5 CVs sent = 1 placement = £1,812
- 1.0 jobs added = 1 placement = £1,812
- 0.9 interviews arranged = 1 placement = £1,812
While efficiency is one explanation, it’s also worth noting that employment type plays an important role in how these ratios play out (pssst… if you haven’t checked out our research report exploring 2024 benchmarks in permanent vs. contract roles yet, read it HERE).
Here’s how agencies of different sizes split their operations throughout the last 12 months:
Trends by Agency Size
CVs SentAcross all agency sizes, the volume of CVs sent was notably low for Dec 2023 averaging about 54% of how many CVs would be sent in any other given month throughout the year - an expected seasonal trend that typically happens as activity winds down ahead of the holiday season. Otherwise, activity remained relatively stable throughout the 12-month period with the exception of October 2024, where the average CVs sent per agency was nearly double the 12-month average amongst agencies of 1-19 consultants, peaking at 223. This may be in an effort to achieve ambitious 2024 goals.
Jobs Added
While monthly averages for jobs added followed a similar pattern to that seen for CVS sent (in that December was typically lower than other months), agencies of 50-99 consultants and 100+ consultants saw their lowest volume of sourced jobs in August 2024. This may be due to economic factors affecting hiring plans, the school holiday season affecting agency-wide productivity or otherwise.
Total Interviews
The number of interviews arranged throughout the year stayed incredibly stable, with little-to-no fluctuation seen based on agency size or seasonality.
Placements
Agencies in the 20-49 consultants range demonstrated consistent growth in placements throughout 2024, indicating a steady increase in successful candidate placements. In contrast, similar to the trend seen in jobs added per month, the 100+ consultants agencies experienced a substantial drop in placements during August 2024. It’s also worth noting that smaller agencies (1-19 consultants) and mid-sized agencies (50-99 consultants) saw a decrease in placements between May and August 2024.
Booked Revenue
The average monthly revenue booked per head shows a general upward trend from Q1 2024 - Q4 2024.
In almost every quarter, smaller agencies (1-19 and 20-49 consultants) generated higher average revenue per head compared to larger agencies (100+ consultants), with agencies of 50-99 consultants having a particularly successful 2024 when looking at booked revenue per head alone. This might be attributed to factors like greater agility, niche specialisation or having a higher proportion of senior personnel in smaller teams.
Agencies of 50-99 consultants also seemed to generate the highest average revenue per head, reinforcing the theory that agencies of this size were the most efficient in 2024. Looking at average monthly booked revenue per head alone, agency sizes rank as follows:
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Key Takeaways
There’s a lot to decipher from all of this, so we’ve done our best to summarise this data as insights for you to consider as we head into 2025. Here’s what’s working, what to be cautious of and what to focus on in the future based on your number of consultants:
Agencies with 1-19 consultants
What's working
High Revenue per Placement: Agencies of this size achieve the highest booked revenue per placement made. This is typically due to working with a smaller (or more specialised) base of high-value clients, which serves as the perfect training grounds for consultants looking to level up their relationship-building skills. When managed correctly, this can create an upward spiral where consultants continue to delight high-value clients, securing more business for the agency and accelerating growth.
What to be cautious of
Being Vulnerable to Fluctuations: While revenue per placement is high, it's important to note that this segment also shows significant fluctuations in these figures. For example, CVs sent per rep varies from 10 in December 2023 to 32 in October 2024. This volatility likely reflects the impact of securing or losing a few key clients, the impact of which is amplified in smaller agencies.
What to focus on in order to maximise performance
Diversify Your Client Portfolio: While specialising in high-value clients can be profitable, it creates vulnerability. Agencies in this size range should strategically expand their client portfolio to mitigate risk. Consider:
- Targeting a mix of high-value and mid-market clients to balance revenue streams and reduce dependence on a few key accounts.
- Exploring new industry verticals or geographic markets to broaden reach and diversify revenue opportunities.
Standardise Your Processes: As headcount grows, implementing standardised processes for client onboarding, candidate sourcing and placement management are key to improving efficiency and consistency. Agencies of this size should consider investing in performance management, motivation and reporting software to help keep performance consistent as well as manage client and candidate data more effectively.
Agencies with 20-49 consultants
What's working
High Individual Productivity: Agencies of this size exhibit the highest per rep figures across several metrics, particularly in CVs sent and placements. This suggests a high level of individual employee productivity and motivation.
What to be cautious of
Employee Burnout and Retention: With consistently high revenue generation per head, the risk of overwork and potential employee burnout is especially high. Agencies in this size range should prioritise employee wellbeing and closely monitor workloads to prevent burnout and staff churn.
What to focus on in order to maximise performance
Invest in Employee Training and Development: To maintain high individual productivity, prioritise employee skill development. Consider:
- Ramping incentives and competitions as a means of boosting morale, rewarding efforts and keeping consultants engaged.
- Create mentorship programs or opportunities for knowledge sharing to foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Bonus points if you can use data to lead your team to success!
Agencies with 50-99 consultants
What's working
High Revenue Generation per Head: Agencies of 50-99 consultants showcase the highest revenue per head figures amongst all sizes analysed. This could be a ‘sweet spot’ for many agencies as it’s they’re established enough to have optimised most (if not all) internal processes, but not large enough to suffer from the common hindrances faced by larger organisations.
What to be cautious of
Operational Efficiencies: As the agency size increases, operational inefficiencies can become more pronounced and impact profitability and revenue generation. Examples of operational inefficiencies that begin to creep in for agencies of this size include increased bureaucracy, leadership becoming more inaccessible or internal siloes/rivalries.
What to focus on in order to maximise performance
Shift to a Team Mentality: Focus on increasing the agency-wide averages by getting reps to learn from your top performer(s). Which activities are moving the needle for revenue? Which clients are the most profitable? What are the key ratios across the recruitment funnel? Use individual dashboards to understand the answers to these questions and encourage consultants to coach and motivate each other. By doing so, you’ll be proactively mitigating threats of siloes, rivalries and lack of professional development which are common obstacles to growth for larger agencies.
Agencies with 100+ consultants
What's working
High Agency Efficiency: Agencies of this size are the most efficient due to several factors, including dealing in a high percentage of contract placements (where a single sourced job often serves multiple placements during the course of its lifetime), high exposure (thanks to having a large team of consultants all self-promoting and spreading brand awareness, resulting in less outbound prospecting and more inbound processing) and years of experience in refining and perfecting processes, strategies and competitive offerings.
What to be cautious of
Balancing Volume with Profitability: While achieving significant market share is important, these agencies need to carefully monitor the impact of volume on profitability. The consistently low average revenue per rep suggests a need for optimising client segmentation strategies.
Maintaining Agility and Responsiveness: Larger organisations can become less agile and struggle to respond quickly to changing market conditions and/or client demands. Decentralising decision-making, empowering teams to act autonomously and fostering a culture of innovation can help these agencies maintain a competitive edge.
What to focus on in order to maximise performance
Streamline Operational Processes: In addition to prioritising volume and market share, larger agencies should focus on streamlining operations to maximise efficiency and employee productivity. Consider:
- Conducting a thorough review of internal workflows to identify areas for automation/optimisation.
- Implementing SaaS solutions that enhance communication, collaboration and data reporting across one or more departments.
- Developing tiered service packages that cater to the specific needs and budget constraints of various client types.
- Focusing on developing strong relationships with key decision-makers within high-value client accounts to ensure long-term partnerships and revenue growth.
Methodology
This report is based on data we collected from 311 recruitment agencies from 01 Dec 2023 - 30 Nov 2024.
Disclaimers:
- Client base size varies with customers onboarding/offboarding the platform.
- We classed data beyond 3 standard deviations from the mean as ‘outliers’ and removed them from consideration.
- This report’s financial benchmarks take into consideration agency revenue figures that are measured in Great British Pounds (GBP), United States Dollars (USD) and Euros (EUR). For the sake of consistency, all revenue figures have been converted to GBP by using average historical conversion rates for each month covered by the dataset.
Thanks for reading and we hope you enjoyed this content!
For any queries, feedback or suggestions for future content you’d like to see from OneUp Labs, please feel free to email us at marketing@oneupsales.co.uk
If you’re looking for a scalable performance management, motivation and reporting tool to support your growth goals in 2025 and beyond, chat to a member of our team to learn more.
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