How We Delivered a Specialized Hiring Project to Support a Mid-Sized Organization’s Growth

Situation

A private equity-backed provider of automotive reconditioning services shows the talent acquisition challenges that mid-sized, specialized service companies face when competing for skilled workers in tight labor markets. The organization needed to dramatically improve their recruitment process and speed-to-hire for their skilled hourly workers, including specialized industrial painters, roles that require specific technical expertise and that are in limited supply. Like many growing mid-market companies, the organization lacked the internal resources and specialized recruitment capabilities needed to effectively compete for this scarce talent.

Their growth targets came with a clock attached. The company’s private equity sponsor had set an expansion plan that called for scaling from 15 hires per month to more than 330 within four months, a jump their existing recruitment approach could not deliver. Post-acquisition timelines leave little room to build an internal talent acquisition function from scratch, and every unfilled role slowed the plan down. The organization engaged PeopleScout for project RPO.

Solution

Our approach centered on expanding capacity quickly without adding permanent cost. We began with a focused pilot program using a team of five recruiters, and the early results allowed us to expand the account team to 16 within just two weeks, consisting of one recruiting manager, 10 recruiters, and five coordinators,.

For a portfolio company, that flexibility matters in both directions. Instead of hiring permanent recruiters, the client paid for recruiting capacity only while they needed it. When hiring volume dropped, the team scaled back with it.

In addition to recruitment, we provided comprehensive talent advisory services including deep-dive market analysis across the country, full persona development for all positions in scope, complete job description rewrites, and strategic guidance tailored to their industry. Our technology implementation included integrating Affinix® with existing Workday system with our expert recommendations for optimization. The project team deployed multifaceted sourcing strategies including automated sourcing software, marketing-optimized sourcing scripts, and regional and national career days specifically designed to attract skilled hourly workers and industrial painters.

Key Success Factors

• Specialized Hiring Project Model: Dedicated, time-bound approach built for rapid scaling needs
• Rapid Team Deployment: 16 person account team onboarded in 2 weeks
• Scalable Resources: Team expansion from 5 to 16 within 30 days to meet demand
• Flexible Cost Structure: Recruiting capacity that flexes with the growth plan rather than impacting payroll
• Industry Expertise: Deep understanding of automotive and skilled trades recruitment
• Technology Integration: Seamless integration with existing Workday system plus enhanced analytics
• Comprehensive Support: Full spectrum from talent advisory to marketing to global compliance

Results

The project met the client’s scaling goal, growing from 15 to 330+ hires within just four months. This 22x increase in monthly hiring volume was achieved while maintaining quality standards for their specialized skilled hourly and industrial painter positions, roles that are notoriously difficult to source and hire at scale.

Targeted recruitment marketing increased candidate flow by 395%, and technology optimization reduced recruitment marketing costs by 62%.

The impact extended far beyond the immediate hiring surge, with the initial three-month project expanding into a comprehensive two-year engagement that now supports 1,000 annual hires across their organization. The combination of a scalable team model, technology integration, and support services gave the client the recruiting capacity to keep pace with their growth plan.

For the client’s private equity sponsor, the engagement produced something reusable—a talent model with a known ramp time and a known cost structure. The same model was later deployed at another company in the same portfolio.