The world of hiring has changed. And it’s continuing to change, fast.
In a survey running from 2022 to last year, Greenhouse looked at data from more than 6,000 companies and found recruiters are seeing a 412% annual increase in applications.
At the same time, their teams have gotten smaller. The field is experiencing high turnover, even as LinkedIn points to recruiting assistants among the top three fastest growing jobs for new college graduates in 2026.
More chaos, in other words.
And when I talk to MSP leaders, I hear it there, too: MSP staffing solutions are harder to manage than they used to be.
The labor market is tight, with low unemployment and record levels of retention, according to StaffingHub.
But these issues don’t stem from a lack of good candidates.
What do MSPs want from staffing suppliers?
I was just at ProcureCon Contingent Staffing, and the common message I heard: consistency is just as big a problem (if not bigger) for MSPs as finding good people.
Consistent, predictable, quality performance that’s cost effective and compliant remains the goal.
Enterprise companies look to the MSP process because it solves the complexity of contingent hiring.
Vendor Management Systems (VMS) exists to help manage this contingent cycle, but ultimately suppliers must help the system work as it should.
MSP leaders consistently tell me they want the same things from suppliers:
Quality
Moving more resumes is not always the right answer. When volume’s going up and up, the pressure shifts to process.
Focus, filtering, communication, and control are critical. Ultimately, managers don’t want to waste even more time reviewing candidates, especially if the quality level at this higher volume is the same or worse.
Rather than triaging, MSP programs want to be focused on improving.
The best suppliers can handle this variable volume. They have pre-sourced candidates in areas of need—nearshore, onshore, and off—and effective, vetted automation that helps them handle the blitz.
And consistency is one pathway to quality: it shouldn’t have to be a choice between speed or substance.
Speed
You don’t need me to tell you speed is critical.
This is another area where effective processes and relationships must go hand-in-hand with automation. MSP programs don’t want suppliers who are figuring out their AI solutions on the fly, dealing with fraudulent candidates or even compliance headaches around documenting their decision-making and dragging in someone else, downstream, to these headaches.
PTP recently ran a report on how we handle fraud in applications and interviews, and it’s worth a read for the scope of the problem and how effective suppliers are staying ahead of the game.
Bottom line: delays cost big, and inconsistent flow can be as problematic as routine drag if you don’t know what to expect.
Consistency
MSP leaders need to know that the screening quality they’re getting one week will be the same the next. This can vary by recruiter, but ultimately “qualified” should mean the same thing whenever it’s coming from a supplier.
LinkedIn’s Future of Recruiting 2025 report saw 89% of talent acquisition professionals are finding it harder to measure the quality of hire. Worse still, only 25% were very confident with their organization’s ability to do it effectively now.
And while the majority see AI as being a helper in this arena, many are still getting AI solutions on their feet beyond initial resume screening. Only 8.3% said their automation reaches even 50% of the recruiting workflow, in a recent survey by Atlas.
Most common among suppliers: varying AI tools, being applied in varying ways.
Why do MSP programs fail due to inconsistent execution? Because things like varying interpretations (must-haves, bill rate, what “skilled” really means, candidate to candidate) break down the workflow.
(This is also true of clients, to be fair, if they’re consistently forced to redefine what they’re looking for mid-search.)
Assessments will vary based on who’s doing them, which is why structured hiring systems are critical to ensure consistency, at every step of the process.
What makes a high-performing MSP supplier?
As the application count climbs, more pressure gets put on the whole process.
Effective suppliers must be able to handle the load without losing quality candidates in a rush to keep up.
And as candidates move through the process, the sunk cost keeps rising. This is another reason why it’s so critical for suppliers to use AI automation effectively, so that unqualified or fraudulent submissions don’t drag on the entire system and are filtered at the top.
PTP now puts every submission through its Rebecca AI system, as detailed in this article by our VP of Sales Eric Treida. This step has been important in increasing our speed while maintaining both quality and consistency.
In addition to helping with enormous submission volumes and improving the time-to-hire, the Rebecca AI system is also helping to identify 95% of all fraudulent candidates before they waste more time and money.
Overall, we validate fit at the top, to keep our talented and experienced recruiters focused on assessing real candidates, or where they can have the biggest impact.
How can AI improve efficiency in MSP staffing without compromising quality?
One truism that applies to most everything is pick fast or good. You won’t get both.
But AI is helping PTP most through operations and communication. It’s helping compress workflows, instead of getting in the middle of judgments or assessments of quality.
As a result, it’s made things far faster and even more organized.
For candidates, some have expressed initial reservations about talking to AI screeners, but our applicants give the system high marks, by coming through saying they prefer the AI process to the old way.
Candidates get better clarity on where they are in the process and far more thorough communication, to name two things. And companies don’t miss out on good people leaping to other positions first.
You can check out this PTP Report article for a few candidate testimonials and a look at our stats.
I will say that no, AI can’t be making decisions for suppliers on which candidates they move forward. But the best suppliers are using AI—and not only to keep afloat in the rising tide.
They’re using it to improve the speed and quality of the whole business of hiring.
PTP and staffing consistency in MSP programs
I’ve been making the case throughout for how PTP is leveraging AI automation the right way.
We have nearly thirty years in the tech recruiting and consulting business, serving Fortune 100 companies, and apply our own patent-pending AI innovations to the best solutions that are out there.
Here are some of the numbers on how PTP offers quality, speed, and effective performance consistently:
- 95%: Positions responded
- 91%: Offer acceptance rate
- 92%: Performing within requested bill rate
Our fill ratio among MSP customers has improved markedly with internal AI and is continuing to improve fast.
Schedule a quick chat with me for more on all of this, and what we offer.
