How do you calculate fill rate in recruitment?

Divide the positions or shifts filled by the positions or shifts requested, then multiply by 100. An agency that fills 18 of 20 requested shifts has a 90% fill rate. State whether you count shifts, orders or shifts actually worked.

What is the difference between fill rate and time to fill?

Fill rate measures how much of an order you filled. Time to fill measures how long it took. An agency can fill every shift and still lose the client if it fills them too slowly.

Does a no-show count against fill rate?

It depends on how the client measures it. Many count the shift as filled when a Crew Member is confirmed, but the client experiences a no-show as an empty shift, so track both confirmed and worked fill rates.

Why do VMS programs track supplier fill rate?

Programs use fill rate to rank the agencies on them. A higher fill rate often earns an earlier look at new orders, and a falling one can move an agency to a lower tier.

Fill Rate

September 24, 2026

5 min read

Running an Agency

Written by the NextCrew team

Definition

Fill rate is the share of requested positions or shifts a staffing agency actually fills. If a client orders 20 shifts and the agency confirms Crew Members for 18, the fill rate is 90%. It is the number clients judge an agency by, and in VMS programs it often decides which agencies see orders first.

A week of shifts for one client

Filled: 18 shifts

Open: 2

Fill rate 18 ÷ 20 = 90%

Illustrative numbers.

How do you calculate fill rate?

Fill rate = positions or shifts filled ÷ positions or shifts requested × 100. The fill rate formula is simple; the argument is about what counts. Decide which version you report before you share it, because the same week can produce very different numbers:

Version	What it counts	Same week, illustrative
By shift	Shifts confirmed against shifts requested	18 of 20 shifts = 90%
By order	Orders fully staffed against orders received	3 of 5 orders = 60%
Worked	Shifts where the Crew Member actually arrived	17 of 20 shifts = 85%, after one no-show
Same-day	Same-day requests filled	4 of 6 = 66.7%

A no-show turns a filled shift into an empty one for the client, so the worked fill rate is the one the client actually feels.

What is a good fill rate for a staffing agency?

The one your client agreement or VMS scorecard sets, with a rising trend against it. There is no industry figure worth copying as a target: clients and programs set their own thresholds, and a fill rate means little until you know whether it counts shifts, orders or shifts worked. Track it weekly, by client and by position, so a problem shows up where it starts.

What lowers fill rate?

A low fill rate is almost always a symptom of rates, the Crew pool or speed.

Pay rates below the local market. If a warehouse down the road pays more for the same shift, Crew Members take that one. Check the bill rate leaves room for a competitive pay rate.
Requirements the pool does not have. A certification, license or shift pattern that few of your Crew Members can meet caps the fill rate before recruiting starts.
Orders that arrive late. Same-day and overnight requests fill at lower rates. Track them separately so they do not hide a problem with planned orders.
Slow or missed notifications. An open shift that reaches Crew Members hours after it was entered loses to agencies that notify in minutes.
Cancellations with no backfill. A Crew Member cancels the night before and nobody replaces them, so a filled shift becomes an open one.

How can an agency improve its fill rate?

1
Price to the local market
Check what nearby employers pay for the same shift before you accept the order.
2
Build the pool before the order arrives
Group Crew Members by skill, certification and location so the right people can be reached in one step.
3
Notify in minutes, not hours
Send open shifts to everyone who matches as soon as the order is entered.
4
Confirm and remind
Reminders and one-tap confirmations cut the no-shows that turn filled shifts into empty ones.
5
Backfill the same day
Treat every cancellation as a new open shift and re-invite straight away.

Bottom line: report fill rate the way your client measures it, by client and position, and fix the cause (rates, pool or speed) rather than the number.

How NextCrew handles fill rate

NextCrew shows how full every job is while there is still time to act.

A Fill Rate widget shows the percentage filled per job over a time range you choose, such as today, this week or the next two weeks.
A color-coded calendar marks each job fully filled, partially filled or open, by order, by job or by Crew Member.
Notify Now pushes an open shift to matching Crew Members straight away by email, SMS and app notification.
Cancellations show at once. When a Crew Member cancels, the job shows as understaffed so you can re-invite or match a replacement.

See how filling works in job order management software.

Frequently asked questions

Related terms

Time to fill: how long it takes to fill an order.
No-show: a confirmed Crew Member who never arrives.
Job order: the client request the fill rate is measured against.
VMS: where many programs score agencies on fill rate.
Shift bidding: letting Crew Members claim open shifts.
Supplier scorecard: where an MSP reports your fill rate alongside speed and compliance.

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