For staffing and recruiting firms
AI automation for staffing firms
The Federal Employment Agency counted 669,000 temp workers in June 2025, the lowest since 2010, yet the industry still signs 789,000 new contracts a year. In this market, speed wins placements. At the same time, the EU has declared the core of your business, evaluating candidates, a high-risk AI application. The time savings are in everything else.
30 minutes, no obligation. German or English. Clicking loads Cal.com (USA); the call runs on Google Meet. Prefer to write first? Ask by email. We send the draft data processing agreement and our terms on request.
- 669,000
- temp workers in June 2025, the lowest level since 2010Federal Employment Agency, January 2026
- 789,000
- new employment contracts in twelve months, against a stock of roughly 660,000Federal Employment Agency
- 43.2%
- of applicants write their cover letters with AI, three times the 2023 sharesoftgarden, June 2026
In short
A staffing firm goes through the full intake process more than once per worker per year. The AI records applications and client orders in a structured way, completes documents and asks follow-up questions, in your firm's tone and with your team's approval. That is data collection, not selection, so it is outside the high-risk category. The trial run starts at €2,500.Last updated:
The gap
The EU regulates the selection. You can automate the daily work around it.
One hire takes on average 70 days, 19 applications and 4 interviews, and three quarters of applicants expect an invitation within two weeks (onlyfy application report). A staffing firm goes through the full intake process more than once per worker per year. The AI Act does not regulate this process, and that is where we build.
Intake without selection
The AI records applications and client orders in a structured way, completes documents and asks follow-up questions, in your firm's tone and with your team's approval. That is data collection, not selection, so it is outside the high-risk category.
Reactivating your own pool
With 789,000 new contracts a year, every agency already knows a large pool of vetted workers. Contacting them again, systematically and at the right moment, is the cheapest placement in the market and entirely unregulated.
Scheduling within two weeks
Applicants expect an invitation within two weeks. The AI schedules interviews in time and sends status updates, so neither side goes silent. Per KOFA, 14.7 percent of companies have had signed contracts simply not honored on day one; whoever communicates faster loses fewer people.
The paperwork that decides your license
The staffing permit, maximum assignment duration, equal pay after nine months, sector surcharges, and in Austria the reference surcharge and the training-fund levy. Drafting these documents and tracking their deadlines is a safe use of AI with a high payoff.
The AI Act first
Built on the safe side of Annex III
Recruiting is the one SME industry where the EU has declared the core process high-risk. Our rule is simple: the software prepares, people select, and the records prove it.
- No high-risk shortcuts
- Annex III of the AI Act classifies as high-risk any system intended to analyse and filter job applications and to evaluate candidates. We do not build or white-label matching models. Anyone who does risks full provider status, including a conformity assessment.
- § 22 AGG and the burden of proof
- A rejected candidate only has to show indications. Then the agency must prove its model did not discriminate. Opaque scoring is a liability. Where AI touches selection at all, it runs as documented decision support, with a named person responsible for each shortlist.
- Art. 26 deployer duties, built in early
- From 2 December 2027, deployers of high-risk systems must provide named, competent human oversight, keep logs and inform the people affected. The deadline moved, the duties did not shrink. We build the logs and the approval trail now, so the deadline is a date, not a project.
- Staffing-law paperwork, drafted and tracked
- The AÜG license, maximum assignment duration, equal-pay milestones and surcharges decide whether the firm survives. Our systems draft the documents and track the deadlines; a person signs.
How it starts
How a project runs
Intro call
Free
30 minutes on where your firm loses time. If AI is not the right tool, we tell you.
Trial run
from €2,500 · credited to the implementation
We find out where the hours actually go, from incoming applications to deadlines, and rank the use cases by payback. You get a shortlist with expected effort, not a slide deck.
Implementation
Fixed fee, named in your proposal
We implement and test one workflow with your team, typically within two to four weeks once prerequisites are confirmed. We train your team, and your team checks and approves every draft before client data goes out.
The implementation of one contained workflow costs about €3,000 to €5,000. Projects with several processes and systems cost more, and the fixed fee is in your proposal before work starts. Ongoing care starts at €250 per month per workflow. 30 min · remote · no obligation. And if AI isn't the right tool, we'll say so.
Fair questions
What staffing firms ask us first
01Does this replace recruiters?
No. In a shrinking market, the agencies that last are those whose recruiters spend their time on the two things machines may not legally own here: the matching decision and the client relationship. Automation handles the routine work before that.
02Can AI take over our CV screening?
Honestly: that is exactly what Annex III of the AI Act names as high-risk, and § 22 AGG turns the burden of proof against you. If at all, then under four rules: bought, not built; documented decision support, not the decider; a named person per shortlist; logged and disclosed. We set that up. We will not sell you a ranking machine.
03The high-risk duties only apply from December 2027. Why care now?
Because they were postponed, not weakened, and because § 22 AGG applies today. Systems built now with logs and an approval trail cost nothing extra later. Systems built without them will have to be rebuilt in 2027.
04Are the vendor numbers true, 6 seconds per CV and 75 percent dying in the ATS?
No. The 6 seconds come from a 2012 eye-tracking study with 30 participants, and the 75 percent misreads a Harvard study that never measured any such thing. What is solid is the turnover in your own intake process, and that is business case enough.
05What does it cost?
The trial run starts at €2,500. If you go ahead, we credit it in full against the implementation. If we advise against automating in writing, we refund the fee. The implementation gets its own fixed-fee quote. We published what AI automation actually costs, with sources, on our blog. The implementation of one contained workflow costs about €3,000 to €5,000. Projects with several processes and systems cost more, and the fixed fee is in your proposal before work starts. Ongoing care starts at €250 per month per workflow. Read the article with the cost examples. Calculate with your own numbers.
Robert Van YsendyckFounder & Managing Director
In 30 minutes we can tell whether automation makes sense for your firm. If it does not, we say so.