Hiring has always been a high-stakes game, and if your recruitment tech stack hasn’t had an audit or refresh in five years or longer, you’re probably paying more than you realise. Outdated systems aren’t just a minor inconvenience, they’re quietly draining productivity, damaging candidate experience, impacting your brand, and pushing your cost-per-hire higher than it needs to be.

As Sarah Blanchard, our Head of Talent Advisory & Implementation here at Solve, puts it:

“There are so many hidden costs when it comes to outdated hiring tech. And the easiest way to think about them is by the different personas they impact: candidates, employees, and your people and talent teams.”

So, what are those costs?

The candidate cost: Slow systems, lost talent

Your candidates are your customers. If their first touchpoint is clunky, slow, or not even mobile-first (yes, that still happens), they could walk away before you’ve even had a chance to engage them.

“If your application process isn’t mobile-optimised or simply feels too hard, candidates  just won’t apply. That directly impacts the volume of applications and more importantly, the quality,” says Sarah.

The fallout? Slower hiring cycles, reduced talent pools, and missed opportunities to secure top talent in a competitive market.

The employee cost: Engagement takes a hit

Outdated systems don’t just frustrate candidates; they frustrate employees too. From onboarding to leave processing and performance reviews, every moment that matters throughout the employee lifecycle is shaped by your tech.

Modern HR platforms double as engagement tools: think recognition, shoutouts, career development, and internal mobility. Without that? You risk impacting engagement, retention, and wasted investment in people you can’t keep.

“Candidates and employees today expect a seamless, end-to-end platform that supports every critical transition point in their career. Outdated tech makes that experience disjointed, and you lose the opportunity to engage top talent and drive engagement and retention,” explains Sarah.

The people and talent partner cost: Time is money

Talent partners are already navigating a competitive talent market, increasingly complex requirements, and demanding stakeholders. And clunky, unintuitive systems only make their work harder.

“When TA partners are managing high requisition loads, challenging hiring leaders, and fluctuating availability of talent, it’s absolutely critical they have the technology and systems that enable them to deliver the best outcomes for all,” Sarah notes.

Outdated ATS or HRIS platforms mean your team is likely spending more time on admin and less on strategy. This all translates into slower hires, higher costs, and burnt-out recruiters.

So, why do businesses delay (and why does it cost them)?

For many organisations, the thought of replacing or optimising their tech feels overwhelming. Legacy systems are entrenched. Procurement feels too hard. And leaders convince themselves that a workaround is cheaper than an overhaul.

But the reality is that holding on to outdated hiring tech is costing you every day through lost candidates, disengaged employees, and inefficient talent and people partners.

Sarah says, “It’s about making sure the tech you implement isn’t just right for today but that it aligns with your strategic goals three, five, ten years down the track.”

Smarter, not bigger: What the right approach looks like

The good news is you don’t need to rip and replace everything. Increasingly, organisations are moving away from big, monolithic systems and adopting a ‘best of breed’ approach. This may mean keeping your core HR platform but layering in specialised, integrated tools where they add the most value.

The result? A streamlined experience across the full employee lifecycle, enhanced data and metrics, and a hiring experience that’s engaging, efficient, and personalised, not to mention cost-effective and future-ready.

Case in point: Seven West Media

One of Australia’s largest media companies, Seven West Media faced rising costs and inefficiencies due to outdated recruitment technology. By optimising their systems (and not replacing them entirely), Solve was able to refresh and streamline the process, saving the organisation millions of dollars while improving speed and candidate experience.

This is a clear example of how small changes to existing systems can deliver outsized returns.

The bottom line

Outdated hiring tech is costing your business, whether you see it on a balance sheet or not. The hidden costs show up as:

• Lost candidates due to poor experience

• Lower engagement and retention of employees

• Inefficient, overburdened talent and people teams

• Slower time-to-hire

• Higher cost-per-hire

And the longer you wait? The more expensive it gets.

Need help reviewing or optimising your talent tech stack? Our team is completely tech agnostic, so we’ll find what works best for your business today and in the future. Learn more about Talent Advisory or get in touch today.

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