Research by Lighthouse Research & Advisory, in partnership with the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association
The Recruitment Process Outsourcing market is evolving.
The 2026 RPO Buyer Trends Report is the fourth edition of this annual research and the largest sample we have ever collected. It draws on survey data from 998 employers, including 454 active RPO users, gathered in Q1 2026 from organizations across North America, EMEA, and APAC.
The research looked at insights from talent acquisition and business leaders, seeking to understand the priorities, challenges, and changes affecting how employers evaluate, select, and utilize recruitment process outsourcing partnerships. Below is a high-level view of the findings.
Hiring is in a confusing state
Unemployment stands at just over 4%, which is relatively high compared to the 3% rates seen in recent years but lower than the average 5 to 6% rate of the last two decades. The market is shaken by layoffs and employers shifting their workforce strategies, but some areas of hiring continue to buoy the market, including industries like healthcare, construction, and other frontline-focused industries.
Employers that are looking for new solutions to hiring in this confusing time are in the right place. Data from this research study over the recent years shows that RPO partnerships allow for rapid expansion and contraction of hiring as business needs demand, access to high-quality recruitment best practices, and strong return on investment.
On the other hand, there’s another unique challenge that has risen over the last two years. New data shows that it’s harder than ever to screen and select candidates due to the increasing infiltration of AI into candidate application practices. The majority of employers say they want help with addressing candidate fraud. This can seem like a no-win situation, but RPO buyers are turning to their RPO partners to help them solve for this.
RPO is changing, and so are employer expectations
What was once viewed primarily as a delivery model is now being pushed toward something more embedded in how the business operates. That shift is visible in how employers describe their partnerships today. Today, 55% of employers say their RPO relationship is strategic, but only 23% say it is transformational. Most organizations have moved beyond basic outsourcing, but relatively few have reached a level where the partnership is driving measurable business impact.
At the same time, the pressures shaping hiring have changed.
- Risk is now part of the conversation in a way it hasn’t been before.
- Six in ten employers say they want support with candidate fraud and cyber risk, reflecting a growing need to protect the integrity of the hiring process.
- AI is also part of that shift, but expectations have become more practical: employers are less interested in broad promises and more focused on how technology improves specific parts of hiring.
From a historical perspective, what RPO buyers are asking for has shifted in some interesting ways. For HR and talent teams, the most valuable RPO support comes in AI consulting and technology expertise, which was also rated number one in the previous study. But options two through five were shaken up, as the report examines in detail.
Nearly 70% of RPO buyers report positive ROI
Despite these changes, the RPO model is still delivering results. Nearly 70% of employers report a positive ROI, and a majority say hiring metrics have improved. That’s an incredible success for the RPO industry.
Cost pressures are rising again
However, there are some friction points: for the first time since 2023, cost pressures are showing up in a measurable way, with approximately six in 10 employers considering switching providers or reevaluating how RPO fits into their strategy. Expectations are rising, and providers are being pushed to keep up. Even successful RPO partnerships are still subject to the pressure to “do more with less” as so many talent leaders have been asked to do in recent years.
What’s inside the report
The report breaks this range of topics down into separate, actionable pieces of the bigger story:
Section 1: The RPO Maturity Model examines how organizations are structuring their partnerships today and where the gaps remain between transactional, strategic, and transformational models.
Section 2: Rising Expectations explores how employer needs are evolving, particularly around risk, AI, and the demand for more integrated support.
Section 3: Risk, Fraud, and AI looks at how candidate fraud and AI-enabled application manipulation became top employer concerns, what buyers are asking their partners to do about it, and what employers actually want from AI in recruiting.
Section 4: Buyer Behavior Is Changing analyzes why employers switch providers, what drives satisfaction, and how first-time and repeat buyers differ in their priorities, satisfaction drivers, and provider expectations.
Section 5: Employers Not Using RPO Partnerships uncovers common buyer objections and how they compare with those perceptions of current users.
Taken together, the findings point to a market that is still growing, but also being tested. The opportunity for RPO has not diminished. If anything, it has expanded. But the expectations attached to that opportunity are higher, and the difference between delivering activity and delivering impact is becoming harder to ignore.
Read more in the 2026 RPO Buyer Trends Report.
RPOA members can log in for free access.
Roberta Gogos is an HR Industry Go-to-market Leader and Analyst. She has been behind the scenes at market-leading companies to help them shift market narrative, influence buyer behavior and expand into new markets. She is known for her ability to turn strategic vision into measurable execution through positioning, storytelling, and operational rigor.
Since 2024, Roberta has been focused on industry research used by investors, corporate leaders, and vendors to assess technologies and inform M&A decisions, improve GTM, enable sales, inform product development, and develop thought leadership.
She has 20 years of experience in marketing, positioning, and strategy, with 10+ years of that being directly related to talent and the workforce.
