Fill rate
Fill rate is the share of a client's requested positions or shifts that a staffing agency actually fills. If a client asks for 20 warehouse workers and the agency delivers 17, the fill rate is 85%. It is the number clients judge their agency on.
A staffing agency lives on client orders. A client asks for people, the agency delivers them. Fill rate measures how much of each order the agency delivers. A client that sees orders go unfilled week after week starts calling a second agency.
How does fill rate differ from placement rate?
| Fill rate | Placement rate | |
|---|---|---|
| Looks at | The client's orders | The agency's candidates |
| Formula | Filled positions ÷ requested positions | Placements ÷ candidates at a set step |
| Answers | Did we deliver what the client asked for? | How many of our candidates did we place? |
| Who watches it most | The client and the account manager | The recruiting team |
An agency can place a high share of its candidates and still miss orders, simply because it has too few candidates. See placement rate.
How do you calculate fill rate?
- Count the requested positions or shifts in a period. Use the client's order, not what the agency thought it could deliver.
- Count the filled ones: a worker started on the agreed day.
- Divide the filled positions by the requested positions.
Fill rate = filled positions ÷ requested positions
Measure it per client and per type of role. A fill rate that looks fine on average can hide one client whose orders keep going unfilled. Some agencies also track fill rate within a deadline, such as orders filled within 48 hours.
Why do orders go unfilled?
- Too few candidates. The pool does not hold enough people for the role or the region.
- Stale availability. The agency's list shows people as free who already work elsewhere. See availability check.
- Slow outreach. By the time the agency calls, the best candidates have taken another job.
- Drop-outs before the start. Candidates who accept and then do not show up on the first day. See no-show rate.
What raises fill rate?
- Keep availability current for everyone in the pool, every week.
- Contact new applicants within minutes, so they enter the pool before another agency reaches them.
- Screen and book in one conversation, so a candidate goes from application to intake without a gap.
- Plan for volume. A client that wins a contract may need many people at once. See high-volume hiring.
How does Ringtime help agencies fill more orders?
Ringtime's AI agents run the first conversation with new applicants and with candidates the agency already knows, by phone and WhatsApp.
- New applicants get a screening within 5 minutes of applying, inside the calling hours you set.
- Recruiters add known candidates from the applicant tracking system (ATS) to a campaign, for example to check who is free.
- Large lists run in batches inside your outreach hours.
- Candidates who fit get an intake booked with a consultant.
- The answers and the result land in your ATS.
To fill every role your clients ask for, see how Ringtime works for staffing agencies.
