Doing more with less: smarter recruitment and onboarding

The economic and hiring landscape for 2025 has put HR and talent acquisition (TA) teams under increasing pressure to do more with less. With shrinking budgets and TA teams, organisations must rethink recruitment and onboarding strategies. The latest 2025 Talent Labs survey and our 2025 Candidate Insights Report reinforce a shift towards efficiency, AI, automation and strategic workforce planning.

Understanding these pressures is why, at Jobtrain, we developed our recruitment and onboarding system to empower organisations to streamline hiring, reduce costs and improve candidate experience. This blog explores how technology and best practices can help businesses thrive despite fewer resources.

The challenge: reduced budgets and growing workloads

The Talent Labs survey reveals a stark reality: TA teams are being asked to manage increasing requisition workloads with fewer resources. 71% of respondents reported working in teams of fewer than 10 people and the number of solo TA professionals has increased significantly. Meanwhile, recruitment budgets are being reduced, with more organisations not having a set budget at all.

Despite these constraints, the pressure to attract, hire and onboard top talent remains high. Traditional, manual processes are no longer sustainable and organisations need to rethink their approach to talent acquisition. This challenge is further amplified by candidate expectations: according to our Candidate Insights Report, 78% of candidates prioritise work-life balance over salary when choosing between job offers, highlighting the need for companies to provide a compelling reason for candidates to apply.

Recruitment technology - doing more with less

Using technology and particularly applicant tracking systems (ATS) like Jobtrain effectively play a crucial role in increasing efficiency, reducing costs and improving hiring outcomes. Here’s how:

1. Automating admin tasks

Time-consuming manual processes, like posting jobs, screening CVs, scheduling interviews and generating reports, are the first things that should be automated, freeing up TA teams to focus on strategic hiring decisions. Although it seems like AI is used everywhere nowadays, The Talent Labs survey found that only 18% of respondents are prioritising it (AI and Automation). However, with candidate volumes increasing (partly due to AI-generated applications), making the most of automation can significantly improve efficiency. The Candidate Insights Report also highlights that 35% of candidates believe AI can help them learn their job quicker, showcasing its potential beyond just recruitment automation.

2. Enhancing candidate experience

As expected, candidate experience remains the top priority for TA teams in 2025. However, with reduced budgets and team sizes, delivering a seamless experience can be challenge. Our Jobtrain ATS enables organisations to provide a transparent and engaging recruitment process for candidates. Features such as automated communications, mobile responsive candidate portals and application forms as well as self-scheduling for interviews ensure a stellar experience is delivered.

Additionally, insights from the Candidate Insights Report reveals that 75% of candidates prefer traditional application methods over chatbots or video applications, highlighting the need to keep the process straightforward and accessible.

3. Making the most of talent networks and referrals

Talent networks and pooling and employee referrals have emerged as cost-effective hiring strategies. According to The Talent Labs survey, referred candidates are 40% more likely to stay with an organisation for 12 months or more. Jobtrain enables recruiters to build and nurture talent networks and pools, keeping potential candidates engaged and ready for future roles. Employee referral programmes should also be integrated into your strategy, making it as simple as possible for employees to recommend high-quality candidates.

4. Strategic workforce planning

Workforce planning is often reactive, leading to rushed hiring decisions. The Talent Labs survey found that just 15% of organisations practice strategic workforce planning. With an ATS in place, it provides predictive analytics and insights to help organisations plan ahead (sometimes years ahead), ensuring the right skills are in place when they're needed. Workforce planning tools allow organisations to track trends, upcoming hiring needs, talent shortages and internal mobility opportunities. As a side note, data from the Candidate Insights Report shows that Gen Z candidates are more likely to switch career paths (19%) than previous generations, highlighting the need for agile workforce planning.

5. Reducing time-to-hire and cost-per-hire

With budgets now under constant scrutiny, reducing the cost-per-hire is essential. The survey shows that the use of recruitment agencies has dropped significantly, as organisations look to reduce external costs. Using an ATS like Jobtrain help minimises the reliance on agencies. A good ATS should provide organisations with robust sourcing, screening, assessment and onboarding tools in-house.

In addition, it's clear that automation helps speed up the recruitment process, therefore reducing time-to-hire and associated costs. Data from the Candidate Insights Report also indicates that application completion rates drop significantly (a 63% decrease in fact!) when forms take longer than 5 minutes to complete, further reinforcing the need for an optimised recruitment process.

Onboarding: making it efficient and welcoming

Onboarding is a crucial yet often overlooked part of the hiring process. Poor onboarding leads to higher attrition rates, lower engagement and lost productivity. The Talent Labs survey results show that organisations are struggling with onboarding due to limited resources.

So having onboarding solutions available that simplify and enhance the process is crucial to ensuring new hires feel welcomed and prepared from day one. Features such as digital contracts, compliance checks, automated workflows and pre-boarding communication ensure a seamless transition.

A well planned out Onboarding strategy using effective technology helps improve retention and also therefore reduce the costs associated with early attrition.

Doing more with less: Embracing a tech-enabled strategy 

The hiring landscape will continue to evolve, with economic challenges forcing organisations to rethink their talent strategies. The Talent Labs survey underscores the importance of leveraging AI, automation and data-driven decision-making to manage growing workloads with fewer resources.

At Jobtrain, we're always looking at ways to help our clients do more with less and that's why we provide the tools to help organisations successfully navigate these challenges. A good applicant tracking system enables TA teams to automate processes, improve efficiency and enhance candidate experience - ultimately allowing businesses to do more with less.

If your organisation is looking to streamline recruitment and onboarding in 2025, speak to us about how Jobtrain can support you in achieving your hiring goals with fewer resources.