Recruit social care workers yourself with HireLab's social recruitment toolkit. Launch campaigns in days, own your talent pipeline, and cut agency costs dramatically.
Social care providers across the UK are hemorrhaging budget to recruitment agencies. For many organizations, agency fees have become the second-largest operational expense after salaries themselves.
Typical agency fees range from 15–25% of annual salary per hire. For a social care worker earning £25,000 annually, you're paying £3,750–£6,250 per placement. If you hire 10 workers this year, that's £37,500–£62,500 in agency fees alone.
The reality: Many social care providers search for "social care recruitment agencies" because they believe outsourcing is the only way to fill roles at scale. But there's a better way.
HireLab is the productised, repeatable alternative to agencies. Build your own in-house social recruitment engine and own your hiring pipeline.
AI-powered, mobile-responsive pages tailored for frontline and social care roles. Launch in minutes, not weeks.
Multi-step funnels to capture and qualify social care candidates with zero friction.
Low-friction, no-CV forms ideal for care workers. Collect only what matters.
Free ATS with unlimited applicants on paid plans. Track candidates from first click to hire.
Create and publish social recruitment ads (Meta, LinkedIn) without needing an external agency.
Flat monthly fee from €49–€129. Hire as many people as you need without per-hire charges.
See how HireLab stacks up against traditional social care recruitment agencies
| Feature | Social Care Recruitment Agencies | HireLab |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per hire | Percentage-of-salary fee (15–25%) | Flat monthly fee from €49–€129 |
| Number of hires | Pay per hire | Hire as many as you like on one subscription |
| Ownership of candidates | Agency owns most relationships | You own all applicants and talent pool |
| Employer branding | Agency represents you | You control brand, messaging, and candidate experience |
| Speed to launch campaigns | Days–weeks to brief and approve | Launch landing pages and campaigns in hours |
| ATS included | Typically separate | Built-in free ATS on paid plans |
| Social media ads | Agency-managed, extra cost | Self-managed via built-in ad studio |
| Scalability | Cost scales linearly with hires | Predictable subscription pricing |
Instead of paying per hire, build a repeatable hiring engine for your social care roles.
DIY recruitment doesn't have to be complicated. Here's how to get started.
Use templates tailored to care workers (support workers, carers, social care assistants). No design skills needed.
Use HireLab's ad studio to target local social care talent with job ads and employer branding content.
Collect only the key info you need (availability, qualifications, right-to-work) with mobile-friendly forms.
Filter, communicate, and progress applicants in HireLab's ATS instead of relying on an agency shortlist.
HireLab serves social care providers across the sector
Support workers, care assistants, senior care workers, night staff
Volume hiring with recurring agency fees draining budgets
Scalable funnels that fill multiple roles simultaneously with one subscription
Home care assistants, care coordinators, community support workers
Geographic spread makes agency relationships complex and expensive
Location-targeted social campaigns reach local talent pools directly
Support workers, project coordinators, community outreach workers
Limited budgets can't sustain high agency fees for mission-driven roles
Affordable flat-rate pricing preserves budget for service delivery
Social workers, care assessors, safeguarding officers, support staff
Public sector procurement and budget constraints limit agency use
In-house recruitment control with transparent, predictable costs
With agencies, hiring 10 workers costs €50,000 in fees. With HireLab, it's still just €1,548 per year. The more you hire, the more you save. Build a sustainable recruitment engine that scales with your needs.
Pre-built templates, ad studio, and simple workflows designed for non-marketers. Launch your first campaign in under an hour.
No coding or design skills required. Drag-and-drop builder, guided funnels, and step-by-step support.
External ATS integration available on Advance plan. Use HireLab for social recruitment and sync to your existing system.
"We shifted 50% of our care assistant roles from agencies to HireLab-driven social recruitment. In the first six months, we cut our recruitment spend by over £18,000 and built a talent pool we actually own."
— HR Director, Mid-Sized Care Provider
Build your own social recruitment engine in weeks, not months. Launch landing pages, campaigns, and funnels tailored to social care hiring, without paying per-hire fees.
For one-off specialist hires, agencies can provide value. But for volume recruitment of frontline social care workers, the 15–25% per-hire fees quickly become unsustainable. HireLab allows you to build an in-house recruitment capability that's more cost-effective and gives you full control over your employer brand and talent pipeline.
The most effective way is to bring recruitment in-house using a social recruitment platform like HireLab. By creating your own job landing pages, running targeted social media campaigns, and managing applicants through a built-in ATS, you eliminate per-hire fees and pay only a predictable monthly subscription.
No. HireLab is designed for HR teams and care providers, not marketing agencies. We provide pre-built templates, guided workflows, and a simple ad studio that anyone can use. Most customers launch their first campaign within an hour.
Yes. HireLab includes a free built-in ATS on all paid plans, but we also offer external ATS integration on our Advance plan if you prefer to continue using your current system.
That's fine. Many customers use HireLab for high-volume frontline roles (care assistants, support workers) while still using agencies for specialized or senior positions. This hybrid approach gives you the best of both worlds and significantly reduces overall recruitment costs.