Cost Comparison: Staffing Agencies vs. DirectShifts’ Hybrid Solution for Healthcare Recruiters

Recruiters and staffing agency professionals face a constant challenge: filling healthcare roles quickly without overspending. Understanding the cost dynamics between traditional staffing agencies and DirectShifts’ hybrid model — job board + staffing services — is critical to building an efficient hiring strategy.

Traditional Staffing Agencies: The High-Touch Option

Staffing agencies provide:

• Candidate sourcing and outreach
  
• Credentialing and license verification
  
• Placement support for urgent or hard-to-fill roles
  

Costs:

• Typically 20–25% of a hire’s first-year salary for permanent placements
  
• Locum tenens and temporary roles can cost 30–35% per placement
  
• Additional fees may apply for expedited placements or specialty hires
  

Pros:

• Hands-off recruiting for difficult positions
  
• Access to passive candidates
  
• Compliance and credentialing handled
  

Cons:

• High cost
  
• Less control over candidate selection
  
• Time-to-fill may still be slower for niche roles
  

DirectShifts Hybrid Model: Job Board + Staffing

DirectShifts uniquely combines:

1. Healthcare Job Board
   
   • Post jobs for $200–$500 per role
     
   • Pre-verified clinicians, reducing screening time
     
   • Nationwide reach, including telehealth roles
     
2. Optional Staffing Services
   
   • If a role doesn’t fill, DirectShifts’ staffing team steps in
     
   • Handles sourcing, outreach, credentialing, and placement
     
   • Ensures faster time-to-hire without engaging external agencies
     

Benefits:

• Lower cost per hire than traditional agencies
  
• Control + flexibility — post and screen candidates yourself or escalate to staffing support
  
• Reduced administrative burden — license verification, credentialing, and compliance included
  

Insight: Recruiters using DirectShifts’ hybrid approach can reduce staffing costs up to 70% versus agency-only models while maintaining high candidate quality.

Case Study: Hybrid Model in Action

A national telehealth organization needed to hire dozens of clinicians across multiple specialties.

• Using agencies exclusively, the cost per hire was $22,000–$30,000.
  
• Shifting to DirectShifts Job Board for initial sourcing and using staffing support only for hard-to-fill roles:
  
  • Cost per hire dropped to $6,500–$8,000
    
  • Time-to-fill improved by 35%
    
  • Recruiters spent fewer hours on unqualified applicants
    

This demonstrates how the DirectShifts hybrid model combines cost efficiency, speed, and quality — all in one platform.

FAQs: Cost and Hybrid Recruiting

Q1. How is DirectShifts cheaper than traditional agencies?
Posting roles on the DirectShifts job board costs a fraction of agency fees. Staffing support is only used when necessary, reducing overall spend.

Q2. Does DirectShifts handle credential verification?
Yes — all candidates on the platform are license-verified and screened before reaching recruiters.

Q3. When should I use staffing support?
For niche, urgent, or hard-to-fill roles. The hybrid model allows you to post first, escalate later.

Q4. Can I combine DirectShifts with other agencies?
Yes, but many recruiters find the hybrid approach eliminates the need for third-party agencies entirely.

Q5. How much time can recruiters save using this model?
Data shows up to 12+ hours saved per role on screening, plus faster placements for critical specialties.

Q6. Is this approach scalable?
Yes. Multiple postings, telehealth coverage, and hybrid staffing support make DirectShifts highly scalable for growing practices or agencies.

✅ Key Takeaway: The DirectShifts hybrid model gives healthcare recruiters the best of both worlds: cost-efficient job board postings, pre-verified candidates, and staffing support on-demand. This approach outperforms traditional agencies in time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, and candidate quality — all while keeping recruiters in control.