What is mass hiring?

Mass hiring refers to the process of recruiting, hiring and onboarding a large number of employees within a short time. The exact number of new hires and the time frame can vary, depending on the organization. For example, if you normally hire five people for the whole year and this month you hire 10, that could be considered a mass hiring event.

Mass hiring can take place in any industry. It’s common when you need to hire several people for the same or similar roles, such as multiple customer service team members. However, using the definition of hiring more people than normal in a short period, the roles could be vastly different. For instance, you might add a new department with employees who have varying responsibilities, skill sets and authority levels.

Benefits of mass recruitment and hiring

Having a clear motivation in mind helps guide your mass recruitment efforts. If you’re considering this option, you might be looking for the following outcomes:

• Rapid workforce increase: Mass recruiting helps you increase your workforce quickly, usually to meet an increased demand.
• Cost savings: Hiring multiple people at once can save money on advertising and onboarding costs. One paid advertisement can help you find multiple new hires. Likewise, a group session for new employee training reduces the labor resources compared to training employees individually if your hiring is spread out.
• Seasonal demands: If your business model involves hiring a large number of seasonal employees, mass recruitment helps you fill those positions efficiently.
• Broader candidate pool: An effective bulk hiring process draws in a larger number of applicants, which gives you more choices for your open roles. This can lead to candidates who match your needs better.

How to mass hire

The bulk hiring process is slightly different than your normal one-off hires. The following steps can help you manage mass hires effectively.

1. Analyze your mass hiring needs

Before you start the mass hiring process, make sure it’s necessary. How many positions do you have vacant and how quickly do you need to hire?

Once you identify the positions, decide what you need from those candidates. Write a job description if it’s a new position, or review the existing job description if you already have the role in your company. This is the foundation for your job ad and hiring criteria.

Create a well-defined list of candidate requirements for each opening. A candidate profile details the various attributes you want from applicants. If you’re hiring for several different positions, complete this process for each role.

2. Create a timeline for hiring

Your timeline for mass hiring is unique to your organization. All new employees acquired during the bulk hiring process are typically recruited, interviewed and onboarded close together, although there isn’t a standard timeframe to qualify as mass hiring.

Evaluate important dates and upcoming projects to determine when you need the new employees hired and ready to work. From there, you can work backward to schedule job postings, screenings, interviews, selection and onboarding. This helps you properly allocate time to each step and speed up certain parts if necessary to stay on track.

3. Make a recruitment plan

Decide on the best recruitment methods based on the type of positions you have available. You can use traditional methods, such as posting on Indeed and tapping into your network. These options still work well when you’re hiring multiple people at once. You simply need to scale them to account for different roles you’re hiring for simultaneously.

To make mass hires, you can also use Indeed Hire, a recruiting service that combines a human connection with Indeed’s matching technology, or Indeed Hiring Events, which facilitates in-person or virtual hiring events.

Expanding into other methods increases the number of job seekers who hear about your opportunities. For instance, asking for referrals from your existing team could provide you with several applications quickly.

4. Optimize your screening process

Because you’ll likely receive a much larger number of applicants, you need an efficient way to screen them. This starts with knowing exactly what you need for each position, including experience and skills. Tools such as automatic resume scanning can help you identify applicants you want to interview.

Decide what additional steps you want to take, which might include a screening interview, in-depth interviews, skills testing, background checks and reference checks. Keep in mind that each screening tool extends the hiring time, but thorough processes help verify candidates’ suitability for the roles. Find the right balance of speed and detail for your needs.

5. Outline the interview process

While the interviews are part of the screening process, it’s helpful to outline them in more detail before you start mass hires. Effective interviewing helps you maximize your time while gaining valuable information about each candidate.

Decide how many and what type of interviews you’ll conduct for each vacancy. If you’re hiring multiple people for the same role, you might use a group interview to speed up the process.

6. Have a plan for onboarding

The onboarding process starts long before the first day and continues for several months after hiring. When you’re managing multiple new team members at once, you need a plan for onboarding. Break down what each person’s onboarding period includes and assign other team members to handle various parts.

Some of the onboarding components, such as training, can be done with multiple employees at once if they start at the same time. However, people learn at different rates, so make room for those who pick up on things quickly and others who need more time on certain subjects.

Tips to optimize the bulk hiring process

The following tips help you get the most out of your mass recruitment efforts:

• Automate processes: Advanced technology, such as applicant tracking systems, can automate several parts of the mass recruitment process to make it faster and more consistent. Automation helps with screening applications, scheduling interviews, conducting testing, communicating with applicants and handling onboarding activities.
• Focus on the candidate experience: Creating a positive candidate experience leaves a good impression on applicants, which can positively impact their performance within your organization and improve retention.
• Don’t rush the process: While mass hiring is often equated with speed, it’s important to vet your new hires properly, regardless of how many you onboard at once.
• Involve all key players: Everyone involved in the bulk hiring process needs to be aligned and understand the expectations. From the HR team to the hiring managers, all involved parties should have a clear understanding of their responsibilities.
• Track data: Check the analytics on your hiring processes to judge their effectiveness. Look at retention rates and other recruitment metrics to see if your mass hires are working well. Use this data to modify the strategies and improve the outcomes.
• Solicit feedback: Talk to the people involved to learn how to improve mass hiring. Use surveys or interviews to see how candidates feel about the experience. The hiring managers and interviewers might also offer useful advice.

Frequently asked questions about mass hiring

What are the drawbacks to mass hiring?

Mass recruitment can be challenging to manage if you’re not prepared. You might not have the infrastructure to handle onboarding that many people at once or to provide the physical workspace for several new employees. If you rush the process too much, you might make poor hiring decisions or miss applicants who would fit the roles well. Hiring more people than you need leads to increased expenses on salaries and benefits.

What’s the difference between mass recruitment and regular recruitment?

The primary difference is the scale for hiring. Regular recruitment efforts typically focus on hiring just one person at a time. Your organization might have a few positions in the recruitment process simultaneously, but it’s often a slower, more focused process. With mass recruitment, you’re hiring more people than normal within the same general time frame.