The recruitment industry faces an incentive problem, not a talent shortage

Having spent most of my career in recruitment, I want to share an insight that took me years to fully appreciate.

The industry's challenges do not stem from a lack of talent. Many recruiters are among the best commercial professionals I have met. The real issue is that the current incentive structure rewards the wrong behaviors.

Follow the money

Examining how traditional agencies generate revenue clarifies the resulting behaviors.Agencies are compensated for placements, which prioritises speed over fit. A recruiter who takes time to find the right candidate is often outpaced by one who quickly submits multiple CVs, regardless of suitability.

This leads clients to believe recruiters are not attentive, further damaging the profession's reputation.

Consultants are incentivized by volume, turning relationships into transactions. Recruiters who invest time to understand a client's business are disadvantaged by commission structures that reward quantity over quality. Metrics focus on calls, submissions, and placements, while they don't measure depth or comprehension.

Candidates are treated as inventory rather than customers. Once a placement is made and the invoice is paid, there is little incentive to consider their ongoing experience.

This does not reflect poorly on individuals; it reflects rational responses to incentives. Changing incentives will change behavior. Without this, technology, training, or industry commentary will not resolve the core issues.

The exodus nobody is talking about properly

Evidence of this is clear: top recruiters are leaving traditional agencies.They are not leaving recruitment, but rather leaving agencies to become independent. They take their relationships, market knowledge, and reputations, and work directly with trusted clients.This is not simply a trend, but a correction.

Agencies once offered a bundled service: brand, back office, candidate database, payroll, and compliance.

Twenty years ago, this bundle was essential. Today, most components are available as software, and the truly scarce asset, recruiter judgment and relationships, has always belonged to the individual, not the agency.As the traditional agency bundle unravels, the key question is what will replace it.

What companies actually need

While these changes occur on the supply side, major shifts are also happening on the demand side.

Companies are moving away from treating vacancies as the primary unit of hiring. A vacancy assumes a clear, permanent need best filled by a single full-time employee. Increasingly, these assumptions do not hold. Instead, businesses face capability gaps, such as project delivery, system migrations, temporary coverage, or compliance deadlines.

Sometimes a permanent hire is appropriate, but often the solution is a contractor, a fractional specialist, or a small team focused on a specific outcome. Leading companies now ask how to access required capabilities quickly, rather than defaulting to lengthy hiring processes.

The classic recruitment model can't meet these needs, as it was designed to fill vacancies rather than solve capability challenges.

What we're building instead

At Myn, we have chosen to address this challenge directly.Independent recruiters do not need another job board or CRM.

They require the infrastructure agencies once provided: compliance, contracts, payroll, and client access, but without losing margin or ownership of client relationships.

Companies do not need more CVs; they need a direct path from identifying a need to having the right person working, paid correctly, and fully compliant, including essential elements such as IR35 and direct payroll that many platforms overlook.

Combining these elements generates a new set of incentives. Recruiters are rewarded for fit, as their reputation is their own.

Companies pay for outcomes rather than activity. Candidates are paid directly and promptly, as the infrastructure recognizes them as individuals, not inventory.We do not claim to have solved recruitment. We are one company in a large and established industry. However, identifying the core issue is essential. If incentives are addressed, behavior will change. Without this, any improvements are merely cosmetic.

Where this goes

In ten years, the hiring ecosystem will likely consist of a network of independent specialists, each with deep expertise in their niche, connected to companies using shared infrastructure rather than regular employment contracts.

Those who rely on acting as intermediaries without adding value will be disadvantaged in this new environment.The winners will be skilled recruiters and companies that choose to engage with them directly.

This is the future we are building at myn.co.uk. If you are a recruiter considering independence, or a business seeking a new approach, I welcome your feedback on any issues you face. Your input will inform our next steps.