Agency vs. Platform: Why the €5k Agency Fee is a Recruitment Relic

For decades, the "standard" for international recruitment has been the contingency agency model. A company needs a specialist, an agency finds them, and the employer pays a success fee—often ranging from 15% to 25% of the first year's salary. In 2026, these €5,000 to €15,000 invoices are beginning to look like an outdated relic of a pre-digital age. As businesses face tighter margins and a more competitive global talent pool, the shift toward integrated platforms is no longer just a trend—it is a financial necessity.

The Transparency Gap

Traditional agencies often operate as "black boxes." You send a job description, and a week later, a CV lands in your inbox. You have little visibility into how the candidate was assessed or if their visa eligibility was truly vetted. This lack of transparency creates what we call the "silent bottleneck." By the time you interview the candidate, weeks have passed, and you may find they don't even meet the revised 2026 salary thresholds for a General Employment Permit.

At Recruitroo, we believe the paperwork bottleneck starts at the sourcing stage. If the initial vetting is flawed, the entire permit process is doomed to fail. A platform-first approach allows HR teams to see the exact status of a candidate's compliance documentation before they ever reach the interview stage, effectively eliminating the risk of a "compliance rejection" late in the hiring cycle.

The Cost Revolution: Credits vs. Commission

In 2026, the ROI of a hire is measured by more than just their start date; it is measured by the total cost of acquisition. Why pay a percentage of a high-level salary for a service that can be streamlined through software? Platform-based recruitment allows HR teams to take back control of their budgets. By using a subscription or credit-based model, companies can source, video-screen, and compliance-check multiple candidates for a fraction of the cost of a single agency placement.

Furthermore, the "success fee" model incentivises agencies to close roles quickly, sometimes at the expense of long-term fit. A platform model, conversely, incentivises quality and compliance. Because the platform automates the heavy lifting of relocation support and visa tracking, your internal team is free to focus on the human element: ensuring the new hire is welcomed and integrated into the company culture effectively.

Built-in Compliance & Reduced Risk

Agencies are often great at selling talent, but they are rarely experts in the 2026 General Employment Permit salary thresholds or the specific nuances of the UK Immigration Salary List (ISL). Recruitroo builds these legal rules directly into the recruitment workflow. You cannot progress a candidate who does not meet the legal minimums for their specific SOC code, clearing the compliance bottleneck before it even has a chance to form.

By the time a candidate reaches your hiring manager, they have already been "pre-vetted" for visa eligibility. This reduces the risk of offering a contract only to have the permit rejected by the Department of Enterprise (DETE) three months later. In the fast-moving 2026 market, that three-month delay can cost a company more than just the permit fee—it can cost them a project deadline.