Build Your Volume Hiring Strategy with AI

Volume hiring is one of recruitment’s toughest balancing acts. Around two-thirds of companies need to employ at scale, but the pressure to fill many roles quickly without compromising quality can create a perfect storm of inefficiency and stress.

This guide’s insights and tactics will transform your high-volume hiring strategy, helping you recruit smarter and faster with the help of AI. We’ll examine tools for volume hiring that can enhance candidate quality, streamline processes, and boost employee retention.

Why Volume Hiring Optimization is Business-Critical

The success of any volume hiring strategy comes down to three key metrics: time-to-hire, retention, and quality of hire. More than just numbers on an HR dashboard, these performance indicators directly impact productivity, culture, and revenue—here’s how:

Time-to-Hire

Reducing time-to-hire is key to minimizing costs, meeting business needs, and avoiding candidate ghosting. In volume recruitment especially, delays can stall hiring pipelines and leave key positions unfilled.

Imagine a skilled customer support agent applying to two companies. The first (A) knows which skills to assess and acts quickly to measure them. The second (B), unsure what to prioritize, delays with a series of disjointed tests. Company A makes a confident offer and the agent accepts, leaving Company B back at square one: searching for top talent.

So, what does a “good” time-to-hire look like? It depends on industry and seniority, but Pinpoint found the median time-to-hire for entry-level and support roles to be 21.8 days.

Recruiting faster than this without sacrificing quality can quickly put a company ahead of its competitors—hence the value of a volume hiring strategy emphasizing speed. 

For those who need to manage seasonal demand peaks (e.g., retail contact centers around Black Friday and Christmas), uncompromised hiring speed strengthens reactiveness. Reactive companies can respond promptly to sudden increases in demand, ensuring they have the workforce to deliver excellent service without delays.

Retention

Retention is as important as hiring itself. Every employee lost, whatever the reason, represents more than just a vacancy. It creates a need for more hiring, onboarding, and potential downtime. And all three are costly. 

On the other hand, staff who stay can get to know the company and colleagues (improving collaboration) while developing skills and improving in their roles. 

Employee turnover can directly impact buyer satisfaction and loyalty in many customer-facing roles. When agents leave, their customer knowledge and rapport go with them. This forces new agents to rebuild relationships with existing customers, who must repeat information—something NICE found to be a major consumer frustration.

In contrast, long-standing staff can build rapport with regular customers. That allows them to deliver more personalized services, helping buyers feel valued and increasing their trust.

To determine what your retention rate should look like, it’s worth considering that the average call center attrition rate is as high as 38%. That means if you’re volume hiring for support staff, retaining 62% or more of employees is generally positive. The right strategies and tools should help you do much better, though.

A high-volume strategy that optimizes retention can also contribute to a healthier, more enjoyable working environment. One UK study found that company culture suffered in 63% of companies with high staff turnover. The symptoms? Internal complaints, team member tensions, and long-standing employees quitting.

Quality of Hire

Ensuring quality hires goes beyond filling positions. It’s about sourcing candidates who deliver long-term value to the organization—employees who consistently contribute to business objectives.

Too many low-quality candidates was listed as the number one volume hiring challenge in HR.com's annual report. Poor-quality hires don’t just underperform; they negatively impact team morale and company culture. When a new employee lacks the soft skills needed in their role, it isn’t just their work that suffers. Teammates must pick up the slack, which almost always causes stress and burnout.

Defining and measuring quality of hire starts with identifying the core competencies each role needs. They can include:

• Role-specific expertise. Ensuring candidates have the “hard” skills to perform tasks—for instance, a need to understand coding or data analytics.
• Soft skills alignment. Looking for skills like empathy, adaptability, and collaboration, which positively influence customer interactions and team dynamics.
• Performance metrics. Setting clear benchmarks tied to job success and tracking new hires against them to see how well they meet role expectations.

Various tools are available to manage and measure these core competencies. For example, businesses could use aptitude tests for technical capabilities, AI assessments to evaluate soft skills, and a customer relationship management (CRM) system to track performance (e.g., based on sales completed or tickets resolved).

We hear a lot about the cost of a bad hire*, but let’s think positively: how do companies benefit from getting the right candidates for their hiring needs?

They get a team full of capable people who:

• Get to grips with their roles quickly, shortening time-to-value
• Consistently fulfill duties and responsibilities, creating great customer experiences
• Participate in company events, fostering a fun and welcoming culture
• Are invested in company success, contributing directly to goals and objectives
• Share their positive experiences, strengthening the employer brand (to make future hiring even easier)

And the more of these highly engaged people an organization has in its team, the better it’s likely to perform. Gallup reports that engaged employees have higher well-being, better retention, lower absenteeism, and higher productivity. And that their employers are more profitable.

*In case you were wondering, one bad hire can cost as much as 27 weeks of wasted time and 3.5x the position salary.

Use AI to Make Volume Hiring Faster, Simpler, and More Effective

According the HR.com's annual State of High-Volume and Hourly Hiring report, "Three-fifths of respondents plan to use AI for high-volume recruiting next year, primarily for job descriptions, interview scheduling, and sourcing more diverse candidates." Clearly, the pressure is on volume hiring managers to deliver quality and efficiency for their companies. Artificial intelligence (AI) puts that ideal balance in reach by helping recruiters automate repetitive tasks, review large amounts of data, communicate in real-time at scale, and source qualified candidates.

This technology’s use in HR and recruitment is growing fast, and it’s generating some impressive results:

• 80% are saving time on interview scheduling with AI [Phenom]
• 80% of HR professionals believe AI will support their work over the next years [LinkedIn]
• AI hiring tools improve hiring efficiency by up to 20% [McKinsey]

Let’s explore two more specific ways that AI enhances high-volume hiring outcomes.

AI Streamlines Application Management

Managing a large number of applicants in a short period is a common challenge for volume hiring teams. Without the right tools, quality or efficiency will inevitably suffer. 

Fortunately, some applicant tracking systems use AI to automate parts of the application process, saving hiring teams hours every week. Below are three examples of how they can help recruiters manage mass hiring:

• AI recruiters analyze job descriptions to recommend suitable candidates from existing talent pools
• AI automation tools parse resumes and application forms to extract key information and populate candidate profiles, allowing only qualified job seekers to advance
• Generative AI creates tailored outreach emails so talent acquisition teams can engage large numbers of candidates in minimal time

For instance, here’s what AI functionality for matching candidates to job openings may look like: 

This readily available information allows talent teams to make data-driven decisions with minimal effort. 

By eliminating much of the admin that slows the volume recruiting process, AI recruiting tools free teams to engage the best talent and ultimately deliver positive candidate experiences.

AI Makes Soft Skills Accurately Measurable

Another major challenge many hiring teams face is evaluating candidates’ soft skills, which are critical for customer-facing roles in sales, tech support, and customer service.

Many consider interpersonal abilities like communication, collaboration, and problem-solving less tangible than technical (or “hard”) skills, choosing to depend on unreliable resumes and time-consuming interview processes instead. However, AI can make soft skills just as measurable.

AI soft skills assessments give candidates real-world scenarios, analyze their responses, and provide objective insights into traits like empathy, adaptability, and decision-making with minimal human intervention. 

For instance, the test below assesses the candidate on four valuable soft skills: acknowledgment, empathy, positive language, and fluency.

This information enables faster, more informed hiring decisions by allowing recruiters to forecast on-the-job performance early in the recruitment process.

Take the case of the contact center where 15 hiring managers conducted non-stop face-to-face interviews to keep up with 300 job applications weekly. After deploying AI to assess candidates’ language proficiency and role-critical soft skills, the company realized interviews only hindered its hiring process and ditched them altogether. It now discovers and secures the great candidates it needs without all that time-intensive manual recruiting effort.

How to Build a Volume Recruiting Strategy: 5 Key Considerations

While the ability to accurately and efficiently measure candidates’ soft skills is a game-changer for talent acquisition teams, it’s only one aspect of hiring success. The best high-volume recruitment strategies address all of the following:

1. Reliable Candidate Screening

Effective and efficient screening is the foundation of any volume hiring strategy. Recruitment teams that neglect it risk wasting time on unqualified applicants or, even worse, making costly bad hires. 

While AI resume screening may soon become obsolete, tools like AI-driven assessments streamline the screening process. AI assessments can evaluate candidates against role-specific skills and traits quickly, accurately, and with minimal human intervention.

Fundraising Direct, for instance, used HiringBranch’s AI assessments to cut time-to-hire to just two days. Automated screening helped the company’s recruiters identify top candidates more efficiently, ensuring the best fit for their open positions while drastically reducing manual work.

“We just don’t need to interview anymore. I used to batch candidates into group interviews to save time. Today I have the gift of time and I am more confident than ever in our hires.” Sarah Wise—Operations Director, Fundraising Direct

This new approach didn’t just save time. It also improved Fundraising Direct’s quality of hire by focusing on candidates’ performance in real-world scenarios. Recruitment was so successful that the company eventually cut 80% of all interviews from its hiring process.

2. Relationship-Building Candidate Experiences

A positive candidate experience can be the deciding factor in attracting and securing top talent. Candidates who feel respected and engaged throughout the screening process are more likely to see their applications through and accept job offers.

The fact that so many employers neglect candidate experience gives more thoughtful hiring teams a simple opportunity to get ahead. A Sterling survey found that a whopping 70% of job seekers had considered dropping out or did drop out of their most recent hiring experience.

So what stops that happening? Great communication goes a long way. In the same Sterling research, 78% of respondents said proactive updates were important to them. Other influential factors included values, speed, and consistency, as shown in the chart below:

Technology also supports great candidate experiences. For example, AI tools can send personalized updates, schedule interviews, and answer candidates’ questions via chatbots.

Engaging candidates isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about leaving lasting impressions. Even those who don’t make it through are likelier to view a company favorably if they experience clear, respectful communication. This strengthens the employer brand, making future roles even easier to fill.

3. Strong Employer Branding

How candidates perceive an organization can make or break its hiring efforts. In volume recruitment, where competition for talent is fierce, a strong employer brand can be a powerful differentiator.

There’s no magic switch to get people thinking positively of a brand, but think of it this way: potential candidates should visit the company’s website, talk to existing employees (in the case of referrals), or engage with its social media and immediately think, “that looks like a great place to work.”

Building this perception takes time and effort, but it pays off by attracting better-quality recruits and reducing time-to-hire. Here’s how to start shaping a strong employer brand:

• Showcase employee success stories. Show what’s possible by sharing testimonials, career growth journeys, or day-in-the-life videos from the team. For example, Amazon shares how employees have upskilled with its support.
• Highlight company values. Use career content and job postings to explain what the organization stands for and how those values shape the work environment. Candidates who share those values are more likely to apply and stay long-term.
• Leverage social media. Platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram can give candidates an inside look at a company’s workplace culture, events, or perks. Learn what workers love about the company and show it off.

One brand that successfully uses social media in this way is Home Depot. The company regularly posts about what its employees get up to, and it’s not always day-to-day work. The post below shows how staff support youth charities:

After seeing this content, prospective employees whose values align with Home Depot’s charity work are likelier to be interested in working at the company.

4. A Solid Retention Plan

Retention (of high-quality employees) is the ultimate measure of hiring success. Volume hiring often focuses on speed, but if turnover rates soar, the benefits are short-lived. Every employee retained represents saved time and resources—and a stronger workplace culture.

A solid retention plan starts with hiring the right people and continues with effective onboarding, career development, and employee engagement. Here’s how:

• Hiring the right people. Targeted job ads (e.g., on industry-specific job boards) and tailored skills assessments ensure companies hire people who align with their culture, values, and role requirements. This increases the chance of high performance and job satisfaction, meaning employees are less likely to leave.
• Smooth onboarding. A well-structured onboarding process makes new hires feel supported and confident. Communicate expectations, provide tailored training, and assign mentors to help them integrate.
• Development and engagement. The best staff perform well because they’re ambitious and eager to learn. Companies must provide ongoing skills training, career advancement opportunities, and helpful feedback to satisfy that hunger and keep employees engaged.

Progression is a major theme of Infosys’ career marketing. Its AI careers page uses language like “opportunity,” “better,” “journey,” and “innovation.” The line “ensuring your career never stands still” is even clearer.

This kind of content shows ambitious prospects (i.e., those keen to perform well and better themselves) that they’ll have room and support to grow if they join the team.

5. Measurement and Refinement

The best high-volume hiring strategies evolve. Successful companies track recruitment metrics to learn what works so they can repeat winning patterns and ditch failing tactics. Ultimately, measurement ensures you’re not just filling roles but doing it in a way that contributes to business goals.

The data that matters most to one company (i.e., their key performance indicators or KPIs) may be irrelevant to another. However, generally speaking, the measurements we covered in this guide will help you understand whether your strategy is working. To recap, these are time-to-hire, retention rate, and quality of hire.

Time-to-hire and retention rates are often straightforward to track in HR and talent acquisition tools like Workday, Lever, or LiveHire. Here’s LiveHire’s take on hiring analytics, with “days to hire” included:

Quality of hire is more complex. It’s a broader marker made up of various more precise metrics, including:

• Ramp-up time (i.e., the time it takes a new hire to become fully productive in their role)
• Job performance (e.g., sales made or tickets resolved)
• Cultural fit
• Employee satisfaction

For example, employees A and B exhibit the same job performance levels, but A achieves it in one month while B takes six. Employee A is a better-quality hire as they deliver value for the company much sooner.

These more in-depth metrics are found in a range of tools. For instance, employee surveys show satisfaction scores, while a CRM or help desk platform contains performance metrics for sales and support staff.

Hire at Scale Without Sacrificing Quality

Volume hiring doesn’t mean settling for less. Companies that leverage the right tech (like AI skills assessments and advanced ATSs), build engaging candidate experiences, and continuously invest in their employer brands invariably hire smarter, faster, and with better business outcomes.

A thoughtful strategy puts the right people in the right roles, reducing attrition, improving productivity, and enhancing workplace culture. With accurate assessments and continuous refinement, any team can confidently tackle high-volume hiring and set the stage for long-term success.

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Image Credits

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Feature Image: Unsplash/Nicholas Green

Image 1: Via Pinpoint

Image 2: Via NICE

Image 3: Via Workable

Image 4: Property of HiringBranch. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Image 5: Via Sterling

Image 6: Via Instagram (The Home Depot)

Image 7: Via Infosys

Image 8: Via LiveHire

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