2025 Benchmarking Report
Not all recruitment sectors face the same backdoor hire risk
After three years of tracking candidate movements across thousands of placements, one thing has become very clear. Some sectors lose significantly more revenue to missed fees than others. Understanding where the risk is highest, and why, is the first step towards protecting your agency’s income.
Backdoor hire rates by sector
Our analysis shows clear variation in how often candidate introductions result in untracked hires:
- Construction and Engineering: 1 in 544 introductions
- Healthcare and Life Sciences: 1 in 780 introductions
- Technology: 1 in 850 introductions
- Professional Services: 1 in 912 introductions
At first glance, these ratios may look abstract. The financial impact is anything but.
What this means in real terms
Take a construction recruitment agency sending 10,000 CVs per year.
Based on sector averages, that agency should expect around 18 backdoor hires annually if no tracking is in place. At an average fee of £4,500, that equates to £81,000 in invisible revenue that is never invoiced.
Now compare that with a professional services agency sending the same volume of CVs.
The lower risk profile still results in roughly 11 backdoor hires per year, or £49,500 in missed fees.
Lower risk does not mean low impact. It simply means the leakage is easier to overlook.
Why risk varies by sector
The differences are not about recruiter performance. They are driven by how each sector operates.
Construction and Engineering
Long project timelines mean candidates introduced early can be hired months later, often after roles change hands or projects restart. By the time the hire happens, the original introduction is forgotten.
Healthcare and Life Sciences
Staff banks, compliance checks, and delayed start dates create extended gaps between introduction and placement. Candidates move into roles quietly once compliance clears, outside normal CRM visibility.
Technology
Rapid candidate movement, contract switching, and company acquisitions make tracking difficult. Candidates introduced to one entity may join another within the same group without being flagged.
Professional Services
More formal HR processes and longer notice periods reduce risk, but do not remove it. Hires still occur months after introduction, particularly following recruiter departures.
The common thread across all sectors
Despite the differences, one pattern holds true everywhere.
Most backdoor hires occur between three and six months after the original introduction.
This is the point where manual tracking breaks down, recruiter ownership changes, and CRMs stop telling the full story.
Why this matters now
Revenue protection is not about recovering the odd missed fee.
It is about having confidence in your data.
Missed fees distort conversion rates, undermine forecast accuracy, and create uncertainty during audits, funding rounds, and exits.
If you are a specialist recruiter, your approach to revenue protection needs to reflect the realities of your sector.
One size does not fit all.
Download the full benchmark report
We have just published our 2025 Benchmark Report: Missed Fees by Sector, which breaks down:
- Why each sector has a different risk profile
- Real-world backdoor hire scenarios across construction, healthcare, technology, and professional services
- The critical three to six month risk window in detail
- Sector-specific action plans and contract recommendations
If you want a clear, data-backed view of where revenue is leaking in your market, the full report is essential reading.
Read the full benchmark report here