Glossary/Recruitment process outsourcing
Hiring
Recruitment process outsourcing
RPO is not a stack of job ads. Local recruiters sit against a hiring plan: roles, sites, languages, and a weekly pipeline. Screening, interviews, and offer management stay in one process so the plant or centre does not hire 40 people 40 different ways.
It sits next to executive search. The country manager is often a retained search; the operators, technicians, and team leads who report to that person are an RPO programme.
How we deliver this: Recruitment process outsourcing.
FAQ
Questions we get
- How is RPO different from a recruitment agency?
- An agency fills vacancies one by one. RPO takes the hiring process for a defined programme — usually a ramp or a standing volume need — and runs it to a plan.
- Can RPO hires sit on in-country employment?
- Yes, when you do not yet have a local entity. The employment contract and payroll still have to match the country of work.
Related
Other terms
Executive search
A retained search for a named senior role — typically a country manager, plant director, or functional head — with a mapped market and a shortlist, not a job-ad campaign.
Local hire
Someone employed in the country of work as a local, on a local contract and local pay — not as an expatriate on a home-country package.
In-country employment
A way to hire someone under the labour law, payroll, and social charges of the country where they work, without incorporating a local company first.
Reviewed 11 September 2026. Statutory figures follow the country hiring guides. This is a briefing for multinational employers, not legal advice.
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