Why Use a Recruitment Agency When AI Is Flooding Your Inbox?

More applications haven’t led to better hires. AI has made it easier for candidates to apply for dozens of roles in one sitting, and the result is more noise, not more fit. That’s the strongest case for using a recruitment agency in 2026: a good one cuts through the noise, tests the résumé against the person, and tells you the truth about your market, even when it isn’t what you want to hear.

I recently sat down with Sarah Donegan and Evelina Samuels, co-founders of Melbourne HR recruitment firm Samuels Donegan, on Tav’s Little Video Chat. They recruit at a very different end of the market to TRS, but what they’re seeing lines up closely with what I hear from businesses across trades, manufacturing, logistics and automotive.

Is recruitment broken?

Sarah put it plainly: parts of recruitment are broken. In the white-collar space, their clients are receiving 400 to 500 résumés for a single role. Many have been polished by AI and read well on paper, but when the client speaks to the person, the story doesn’t match. Plenty of those clients haven’t opened the pile before they call an agency.

Candidates are frustrated too. Automated screening in applicant tracking systems rejects them within minutes, sometimes with bias built into the settings. Evelina described a trend being called “doom jobbing”, where candidates apply for 10 to 30 roles at a time because it’s easy. One senior candidate told them she only applies for roles she wants. That used to be normal. Now it stands out.

In our sectors the numbers look different, but the lesson holds. Volume isn’t fit. A long list of applicants for a trades and services role doesn’t help if few of them hold the right licence or have worked on the right equipment.

Why are employers moving from in-house recruitment back to an agency?

What I hear from businesses constantly is that they tried running recruitment in-house, and a lot of them are coming back. The reasons are consistent. Sorting hundreds of applications takes hours operations managers don’t have. Internal teams rarely have a live network of passive candidates. And without a clear read of the market, roles sit open while the business guesses at salary and scope.

Sarah and Evelina also see more contract roles coming through. The market is still heavily permanent, but with this much volatility, businesses are risk-averse. For manufacturing and logistics and supply chain employers dealing with uneven demand, a contract option is worth considering before defaulting to a permanent hire.

Can AI replace recruiters?

No, but it’s changing where recruiters spend their time. I recently made my first placement with the help of AI. We run a tool through our database that works through it like Pac-Man, asking inactive candidates a simple question: are you looking for work, yes or no? One candidate had started a permanent role a month earlier that didn’t work out. The AI brought him back to the surface, we re-engaged with him, and he was placed a week later.

I also tested AI on new business development. The result was zero. It produced generic outreach or chased roles we don’t recruit for.

That’s the split. AI handles binary, repeatable tasks well. It can’t manage relationships, because that’s human to human. Evelina sees recruiters moving towards a concierge service as more clients try to do it themselves with AI. The agencies that stay relevant will offer what software can’t: judgement, honesty and a network built over years.

What makes a good recruiter a matchmaker?

Evelina described recruiters as matchmakers. The job is to find the person who fits the role, the team and the conditions, not the person with the best-looking résumé. That skill takes time. Sarah described a recruiter who’d just reached three years as having served their apprenticeship.

It starts with the brief. Samuels Donegan hires recruiters for traits rather than background: positivity, curiosity and a service mindset. A curious recruiter doesn’t just take the order when a vacancy comes in. They ask better questions, get under the hood of the business and come back with better answers.

It also depends on honesty. If a site has culture problems, a good recruiter says so. Some workplaces are chaotic, and that’s workable if everyone’s upfront about it. The job then becomes finding someone who’ll hold up in that environment rather than walk out in six weeks. Both founders have turned down work where a client’s culture would have made the placement a bad experience for the candidate. I tell clients something similar: I’m not the oracle, and I can’t solve problems nobody tells me about.

Is a recruitment agency fee worth it?

Fee pushback is part of the job, and Sarah treats “no” as the start of the conversation. Compared to what? Do you need a contract solution instead? How much pain is the vacancy causing? And what happens if the cheaper provider doesn’t solve the problem and makes it worse?

My approach is simpler. If a client wants a cheaper provider, I tell them to go ahead, and if it doesn’t work out, they’ve got my number. The fee is visible. The cost of an empty role or the wrong hire usually isn’t until later: lost production, overtime for the rest of the crew, and time spent starting again.

What should employers take from this?

• Don’t confuse application volume with a healthy pipeline.
• Test the person, not the résumé. AI-polished applications make interviews and reference checks more important.
• Hire for traits you can’t train. Technical skills can be taught; attitude and curiosity rarely can.
• Use AI for admin and keep people on relationships.
• Expect straight answers from your recruiter. If they only bring good news, ask why.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why use a recruitment agency instead of hiring in-house?

A recruitment agency brings a live candidate network, screening time and a current read of salaries and availability. Many businesses that try in-house recruitment find that sorting large volumes of applications takes longer than expected and still doesn’t surface the right person.

Will AI replace recruitment agencies?

AI is replacing some recruitment tasks, not the relationship side of the job. It works well for reactivating candidates and handling simple yes or no questions. It can’t build trust with clients or judge whether a candidate will suit a team.

What is doom jobbing?

Doom jobbing describes candidates applying for large numbers of roles at once, often 10 to 30 in a sitting, because online applications are so easy. It floods employers with applications from people who may not want the role, which makes screening for motivation as important as screening for skills.

Should I hire contract or permanent staff right now?

It depends on how certain your workload is. With ongoing volatility, more businesses are using contract roles to cover demand without committing to permanent headcount. Talk to your recruiter about which option suits the role before you advertise.

Talk to TRS about your next hire

At TRS, we’ve built our reputation on straight answers and candidates who fit the job, not just the ad. You can watch my full conversation with Sarah and Evelina on Tav’s Little Video Chat. If your business is facing hiring challenges, we’d welcome the conversation. Reach out to the TRS team directly.