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Expanding into a new market, such as Poland, is a crucial moment for companies, full of opportunities but also challenges. One of the most important tasks in the process of opening a new branch is building a local team. In this context, many companies face the dilemma of whether to recruit independently or use the services of a recruitment agency. In-house recruitment offers greater control but can be time-consuming, risky, and lacks familiarity with local realities. A recruitment agency not only saves time and resources; it also provides access to expert knowledge, a broad database of candidates, and market expertise, which can significantly speed up and streamline the process of building an effective team. Why else should such collaboration be considered? Below are the key arguments.
Knowledge of the local labor market
Recruitment agencies operating in Poland have up-to-date, hands-on knowledge of the local labor market. They are familiar with salary levels, candidate availability, industry standards, and employee expectations. For companies entering a new market (without prior experience, local recruiters, or professional networks), such insight is crucial.
A good agency has in-depth knowledge of the local tech landscape; it knows which companies have built strong engineering cultures, deliver high-quality products, and attract top talent in specific technologies. This allows recruiters to focus their search on proven environments, where the likelihood of finding strong candidates is highest. Thanks to this market insight, agencies can move fast and with precision, reaching the right people from day one.
Additionally, agencies help tailor job offers to match market expectations, advising on salary ranges, benefits, and non-financial perks to ensure the role is attractive and competitive. This not only increases response rates but also reduces drop-off later in the process. Another important point is that Polish candidates are generally less responsive to recruiters from abroad who operate without a strong presence in the local market. They tend to trust agencies that understand the realities of working in Poland, including local employer reputations, typical career paths, and workplace expectations. A local agency can build credibility more easily and engage candidates more effectively through relevant, well-informed, and often phone-based outreach.
Saving Time and Resources
Recruitment is a time-consuming process. It starts with preparing the job advertisement, running a campaign to promote the offer, analyzing resumes, and going all the way to interviews and negotiations. Carrying out this process internally requires not only the involvement of the HR department, but also operational managers, who often do not have the bandwidth during the setup phase of a new business.
According to data from Glassdoor, the average recruitment time for a single position in Europe is 23.5 days, and for specialized or managerial roles, it can take up to 40 days. Agencies shorten this time because they have streamlined processes, automated selection tools, and access to candidates right now.
Additionally, agencies take on most of the operational tasks, from the initial contact with candidates through pre-screening to organizing interviews and providing feedback. This allows the internal team to focus on strategic actions related to the development of the new branch without having to dedicate time to the labor-intensive candidate selection process.
Faster Access to the Hidden Talent Pool
Many of the most valuable specialists are not actively job searching and do not respond to standard job ads; this is the so-called hidden talent pool. Recruitment agencies, especially those specialized in direct search, have access to these talents through well-established networks, referrals, and an active sourcing approach. This enables them to reach candidates whom the company conducting recruitment internally might not even notice.
Moreover, a good agency acts fast. Immediately after signing a contract, it starts actively calling relevant candidates, not just messaging them, to quickly assess interest and availability. This allows the agency to present strong profiles to the client within just a few days. Acting quickly is essential; in a competitive market, delays can mean missing out on top candidates who won’t stay available for long.
Flexible Models of Cooperation
Agencies offer various forms of collaboration tailored to the client’s needs: Success Fee, Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), or modular RPO. In the Success Fee model, payment is made only for successful hires, making it a cost-effective option for companies focused on specific roles or short-term recruitment needs. RPO allows companies to outsource the entire recruitment process, providing a comprehensive solution for scaling teams or handling high-volume hiring. The modular RPO model offers even more flexibility by outsourcing only selected stages of the recruitment process, such as sourcing, screening, or interviewing, while keeping other stages in-house. This approach allows companies to adjust the level of involvement and costs according to their current needs and business scale. For companies opening a new branch in Poland, such flexibility can be crucial; it enables them to start operations without the need to build internal HR structures from scratch.
Scalability and Flexibility
Opening a new branch often requires hiring a large number of people in a short time. Internal HR departments, especially at the beginning of operations, may have limited capacity. Agencies are able to allocate additional resources, conducting multiple recruitments simultaneously, including mass recruitment (hiring a very large number of talents in a short period) as well as executive search – recruitment for managerial positions.
What sets agencies apart is their on-and-off model. While hiring and onboarding an internal recruiter in Poland can take 3 to 4 months, with the added risk of needing to restart the process if the wrong person is chosen, a good recruitment agency can immediately dedicate an experienced recruiters to a project. This is crucial, especially at the beginning of a project, when the client may not yet have a local presence in Poland. The ability to quickly scale the team with experienced recruiters without the delays of traditional hiring processes is crucial for meeting tight deadlines and ensuring effective recruitment right from the start.
Minimizing the Risk of a Mis-hire
According to CareerBuilder research, 74% of employers admit to hiring at least one person who did not meet expectations, and the cost of a bad hire for mid-level positions can reach up to 30% of the employee’s annual salary. For companies entering a new market, where every mistake can delay operational goals, minimizing such risks is particularly important.
In addition to candidate selection, recruitment agencies often offer a so-called guarantee period (replacement). This means that if the newly hired employee does not meet expectations or resigns within a certain period, the agency will conduct a new recruitment without additional charges. The terms of this guarantee are always specified in the contract but typically cover a period of 3 months from the hiring date. This provides the employer not only with greater peace of mind, but also concrete financial and operational security – which can be crucial when building a team from scratch.
When opening a branch in a new market, every company faces the need to quickly and efficiently build a team. While internal recruitment may offer more control, using a recruitment agency brings numerous benefits that can significantly ease this process.
Recruitment agencies, thanks to their specialized knowledge of the local labor market, extensive networks, and established processes, save time and resources. They also offer flexible collaboration models that can be tailored to the company’s current needs. Moreover, with their experienced teams, agencies minimize the risk of mis-hires by offering a guarantee for re-recruitment if the hired employees are unsatisfactory. Using the services of a recruitment agency also provides better access to the hidden talent pool, which, combined with the ability to conduct large-scale recruitment, enables companies to quickly and effectively assemble a team suited to the challenges of expanding into a new market. For companies entering the Polish market, such cooperation will undoubtedly accelerate the recruitment process, reduce the risk of wrong decisions, and allow them to focus on key aspects of their operations.
