The Great Skills Hunt: How RPO Boosted European Recruitment for Global Manufacturer

Situation

A leading global manufacturer initially engaged with PeopleScout for a multi-country RPO solution to make 150 hires for over 30 of their sites across 16 countries, including Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

The talent they sought develops and builds equipment for businesses across food processing, chemicals, air and water treatment, mining, pharmaceuticals, marine, construction and other critical industrial applications. These aren’t just engineers—they’re the highly specialized, creative minds who solve complex industrial design challenges that keep the world running.

Solution

Upon surpassing the initial goal of 150 hires by filling 245 hires across 30 sites in the first 12 months, the client continued to engage PeopleScout as their RPO partner in Europe. We have filled over 590 requisitions across business functions in over four years—and still counting.

Our diverse, multilingual delivery teams across the UK and Poland source, screen and evaluate candidates in nine languages: English, Swedish, German, French, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Portuguese and Spanish.

Strategic partnership beyond recruitment

Beyond our end-to-end RPO solution, we became true strategic partners:

• Market Intelligence: Delivered comprehensive market mapping and insights that informed their expansion strategy
• Leadership Excellence: Deployed our Apex professional hiring solution for senior leadership recruitment
• Local Expertise: Supported new manufacturing site development, including hiring experts for specialised manufacturing lines in Poland
• Scalable Growth: Hired over 100 customer support professionals across EMEA to strengthen their brand promise
• Internal Capability Building: Developed regional recruitment newsletter tools and processes to enhance their internal recruiters’ effectiveness
• Inclusive Excellence: Delivered DE&I recruitment training for their EMEA HR team, embedding inclusion throughout their recruitment process
• Record-Breaking Performance: Achieved a milestone 70 hires in Polish facilities in just one year

Results

What began as a tactical hiring challenge evolved into a comprehensive talent advantage. We became an extension of their talent strategy, enabling rapid expansion while maintaining the quality standards that define their market leadership.

The numbers at a glance:

• 590+ placements delivered over 4.5 years across 30+ sites
• 245 hires in the first 12 months alone – 63% above the original target
• 43% reduction in time-to-hire (cutting nearly 60 days from intake to offer acceptance)
• Quality transformation: Shortlist-to-interview ratio improved from 3.6:1 to 1.2:1
• Candidate fit excellence: Offer acceptance rate increased by 18% (from 74% to 92%)
• Data-driven strategy: Labor market insights informed hiring strategy for nine key roles in global commercial management expansion

Four and a half years later, our partnership continues to evolve. Our scalable, agile solutions adapt to their changing needs, whether that’s supporting new market entry, scaling manufacturing capabilities, or attracting the next generation of engineering excellence.