Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO)
What recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is, how it differs from a staffing agency and an MSP, how RPO is priced, and when companies use both.September 24, 2026
2 min read
ATS & Recruiting
Written by the NextCrew team
Definition
Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) is when a company hands all or part of its permanent hiring to an outside provider, which runs recruiting as if it were the company's own team. The RPO provider manages sourcing, screening and scheduling for a fee, usually for a volume of hires over a contract term.
What it means in practice
RPO is about permanent hiring; staffing is mostly about temporary work. An RPO provider recruits employees the client will hire directly, often under the client's brand. A staffing agency supplies people it employs itself. Many companies use both: RPO for permanent roles and staffing agencies, sometimes through an MSP, for contingent roles.
| RPO | Staffing agency | MSP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hires for | The client, permanently | The agency, temporarily | The client's contingent program |
| Who employs the worker | The client | The agency | Suppliers in the program |
| Typical pricing | Management fee or per hire | Markup on hours | Program fee |
Example
A growing hospital system needs 300 permanent nurses a year. It signs an RPO provider to run its nurse recruiting under the hospital's brand, while a separate MSP runs its per diem and travel staffing through several agencies.
How NextCrew fits
NextCrew is built for agencies that employ and deploy Crew Members, not for RPO. Agencies that also make direct hires keep candidates, notes and client records in the same system.
Related terms
- Placement fee: how agencies charge for a direct hire.
- MSP: the provider that runs contingent staffing programs.
- Contingent workforce: the non-permanent workforce an MSP manages.
- Direct sourcing: a client recruiting contingent workers itself.
Go deeper
See staffing CRM.