Companies need to hire fast and hire well, but managing a flood of applications in a tight hiring timeline is a constant challenge in the high-volume sector.
The modern economy runs on high-volume hiring. Every package delivered to your door, every meal served at a restaurant, every call answered by customer service — they all represent successful mass recruitment in action. Amazon reportedly processes 30 million job applications a year, most for its fulfilment centers. Your ability to get that inflatable dinosaur costume delivered tomorrow hinges on them getting the right talent in the door, fast.
But high-volume hiring isn’t simply regular recruitment at scale.
In high-volume situations, you’re bringing in several people at once to fill the same or very similar roles, often for different locations. This is common when businesses face seasonal demand spikes or in high-turnover industries needing continuous replacement hiring. The distinction between this and ‘regular’ recruiting lies in the scale and speed required. While the average job receives around 74 applications and takes 35-50 days to fill, high-volume positions can receive four times as many applications, and roles often need filling within 7 days.
Sorting through hundreds of applications, screening, scheduling, interviewing, offering and managing the hard graft of it all requires a systematic, repeatable approach. Lacking the right processes can lead to absolute chaos and an iffy experience for both candidates and recruiters. That means knowing where the delays are and using technology to speed things up, while avoiding urgency bias and still finding ways to keep the process human.
Three Categories of High-Volume Hiring
While all high-volume hiring involves hiring multiple positions at once, often in large numbers, it breaks down into three sub-categories with distinct features and challenges.
No-skill and low-skill roles
The largest category covers jobs requiring no prior experience or specialized training, like warehouse operations at Amazon, Walmart and UPS. Amazon employs 1.3 million people globally in fulfilment roles, and the hiring process focuses on basic qualifications: ability to lift weights, pass drug screenings, and commit to shift work. Time-to-hire for these roles can be as little as a week, with many companies conducting same-day interviews and offers. Roles are often hired in batches of hundreds during peak seasons.
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Companies need to hire fast and hire well, but managing a flood of applications in a tight hiring timeline is a constant challenge.