Where are you getting stuck?
Every recruitment problem has causes you can find and fix. Pick your challenge below and read what is probably going on, how to check it and what to do about it.
What are the most common recruitment challenges?
Almost every recruitment problem falls into one of three categories: too little inflow (vacancies stay open, too few applicants), the wrong inflow (unsuitable applicants, candidates dropping out, a weak employer brand) or a faltering process (overloaded team, long time-to-hire, rising cost per hire). Solving a staff shortage starts with knowing which category your problem belongs to, because the cause is rarely where the pain is.
Read moreThree types of problems, nine challenges
Almost every hiring problem falls into one of these categories. The cause is rarely where the pain is: too few responses is often a proposition problem, a long time to hire often a process problem.
- Inflow problems
- Not enough is coming in: vacancies stay open, too few people respond or you are not reaching the audience you need.
- Quality problems
- Applications do come in, but not from the right people: wrong applicants, candidates who drop out or a brand that fails to convince.
- Process and cost problems
- The machine itself is faltering: your team is overloaded, the time to hire is too long or the cost per hire keeps climbing while results stay flat.
Choose your challenge
Every challenge has its own page with the likely causes, a way to diagnose the problem yourself and the solution paths available. Described honestly, even when the solution is not ours to offer.
- Vacancies staying open: open for months, despite everything you have already tried.
- Too few applicants: your vacancy is live, but almost nothing comes in.
- Wrong applicants: plenty of responses, but rarely the right people.
- Recruitment team overloaded: your recruiters are drowning in work and quality is suffering.
- Lowering recruitment costs: the cost per hire keeps rising and you want control.
- Reducing time to hire: too much time passes between first contact and contract.
- Reaching passive talent: the best candidates are not searching, so your ads never reach them.
- Strengthening your employer brand: candidates do not know you or choose a better-known name.
- Candidates dropping out: they start applying, but never finish.
Not sure which challenge is yours? Often several play at once and reinforce each other. Then start with how we determine what works or browse by role type at finding staff.
How tight the market still is right now is set out in our article Is the Dutch labour market still tight in 2026?, with the figures from CBS and UWV.
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Guessing costs more than measuring
DIAGNOSIS FIRST
Most employers treat the symptom: an extra job board, a higher fee, yet another agency. We start at the other end: where is your funnel demonstrably breaking down? That saves you months of trial and error.
Start the recruitment diagnosisWant to know where things get stuck first?
Tell us who you need and where things are jamming. You get a concrete picture of the causes and the approach before you decide anything.
Frequently asked questions about recruitment challenges
Do not start with a tool, start with the cause. A staff shortage usually has one of three sources: you are not reaching the target group, you are reaching people but not the right ones, or your process lets good candidates slip away. First establish which one it is, for example by measuring your funnel step by step. Then choose the solution that fits: different channels and a sharper proposition for inflow, better screening for quality, a shorter lead time for process. How that works per job type is explained in our guide to finding staff.
In practice we keep seeing the same nine: vacancies that stay open, too few applicants, the wrong applicants, an overloaded recruitment team, rising recruitment costs, a time-to-hire that is too long, passive talent you do not reach, a weak employer brand and candidates who drop out halfway. They are connected: a weak brand leads to few applicants, an overloaded team to a long lead time. That is why each challenge has its own page with causes, diagnosis and possible solutions.
At the point in your funnel where most candidates disappear. Measure per step how many people you reach, how many apply, how many pass the screening and how many eventually sign. The biggest drop is your first priority, because that is where the problems pile up. Often one intervention turns out to fix several symptoms at once. If you cannot work it out yourself, the recruitment diagnosis maps it out for you.
No, and we say so honestly. Sometimes the cause lies in the work itself: a salary below market rate, shifts nobody wants or a role that is too broad in practice. No campaign will fix that. Recruitment solves it when the people are out there but do not know you, are not reached or drop out along the way. A good diagnosis makes that distinction before you spend money on recruitment.