A Buyer's Guide for Buying and Optimizing Recruitment Process Outsourcing

RPOA and Lighthouse Research & Advisory | January 2026 | n=998 employers

The Recruitment Process Outsourcing market is not slowing down. It is evolving.

The 2026 RPO Buyer Trends Report, the most comprehensive study of RPO buyer behavior available in the market, draws on survey data from 998 employers, including 454 active RPO users, collected in January 2026.

It is the fourth annual edition of this research and the largest sample ever collected, with respondents spanning North America, EMEA, and APAC from all industries.

The findings capture a market at an inflection point. Nearly 70% of RPO buyers report a positive return on investment, and a majority say hiring metrics have improved under their current partnership. But cost pressures are rising, candidate fraud has become a material risk, and employer expectations around AI have grown more specific and more demanding. For the first time since 2023, AI expertise has become a top expectation by RPO buyers and applicant fraud has become a top hiring concern.

This 38-page, evidence-based report examines where RPO partnerships stand today, where they are falling short, and what separates providers that are delivering measurable business impact from those that are not.

MEMBER DOWNLOAD

What You'll Find Inside

How RPO partnership maturity breaks down today (transactional, strategic, and transformational), and where most organizations fall on that spectrum
Why nearly six in ten employers are considering switching providers or restructuring their RPO engagement, and what drives those decisions
How candidate fraud and AI-enabled application manipulation have become top employer concerns, and what RPO buyers are asking their partners to do about it
What employers actually want from AI in recruiting, and how those expectations have shifted from broad promises to specific, measurable use cases
How first-time and repeat RPO buyers differ in their priorities, satisfaction drivers, and provider expectations
The satisfaction and ROI data behind successful partnerships, and the friction points that persist even in high-performing ones
What RPO providers must do to meet rising expectations and move buyers from strategic to transformational partnership models

Member login for free access

Non-Member Price $950 USD

The 2026 RPO Buyer Trends Report is produced by the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association in partnership with Lighthouse Research & Advisory.

RPOA Membership:

Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association, LLC

Midlothian, Virginia 23114

Stay Connected

About Us

We are a member-driven, mission-driven association committed to serving and elevating the recruitment process outsourcing industry. Learn more about who we are and what we do.

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Contact us at info@rpoassociation.org.

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software