You know the feeling: you open a ‘perfect’ candidate, grab the phone... and get the voicemail of someone who's two jobs, three skills, and a new email address further along. Seems like an innocent detail, but this small mistake eats up time, reputation, and – don't be shocked – tons of missed margin for about 70% of staffing agencies every day. How can one outdated field be so costly? And more importantly: How do you stop it for good?
How can something so small have such a big impact?
Every day, 2 - 3% of the data in a candidate database changes. Phone numbers move, email addresses disappear, job titles shift. Add that up over a few months and you’re literally searching in a ball pit full of ghost profiles.
According to Gartner, an average company loses $12.9 million annually due to poor data. Put that beside the margins of a staffing agency and you'll feel it: every dead lead is a hole in your budget.
Let me tell you a story
Lisa, a senior recruiter at a medium-sized staffing firm, needed eight phone calls last week for one confirmed intake. Four conversations went to numbers that no longer existed. Twice, she ended up in a voicemail jungle. One candidate had been on board at the competitor for a long time. During the Friday drinks, she calculated quickly: about an hour and a half gone. And that was just one day out of her week.
Sound familiar? Then you know how quickly the clock ticks up.
Popular misconceptions and why they’re wrong
Myth 1: “Our database is gold; recruiters just need to search better.”
Internal audits at over 60 agencies showed that, on average, 40% of profiles were outdated. Gold? More like sand in your engine.
Myth 2: “We do a big cleaning every quarter; then it’s back on track.”
Manually cleaning is like mopping the floor while the tap is running. By the time you’re done, the first quarter is already outdated.
Myth 3: “LinkedIn will solve this for me.”
LinkedIn data refreshes indeed faster than your ATS. Only, your own system remains the flawed foundation of your process. Without smart integration, you'll never pick up that knowledge in time.
Where does it actually go wrong?
Data decay
Every month, 2 - 3% of the records become outdated. That adds up.Legacy ATS
Many older systems store emails, phones, and skills as free text. ATSs can do little with that.Human behavior
Recruiters type quickly, save resumes locally, and forget mandatory fields. Well, we are still human.No data policy
As long as no one is the owner, no one is bothered - until the fine or the mistake hits.
The bill: a quick calculation
Let’s say a recruiter bills €30 per hour and spends 6 hours a week on pointless digging. That’s €180. Multiply that by 50 recruiters and you’re down €9,000... per week. In a year, you’re talking almost half a million. Ouch.
Good, and now the good news
There is a way out that hurts less than you think.
1. Automate enrichment
Connect a data provider to your ATS.
Let AI validate and standardize fields.
2. Put candidates in the driver’s seat
Send semi-annual “Check-your-profile” emails.
Provide a mobile portal where updates can be made within 30 seconds.
3. Make one person fully responsible
Call them Data Steward, Data Boss, whatever you want.
Give that person KPIs and authority.
4. Build ‘compliance-by-design’ in
Automate permissions and retention periods.
This prevents fines AND irritation.
5. Quick wins for today
Set up a simple report that shows all “not-reachable” tags.
Quarantine profiles older than five years. You don’t have to throw everything away immediately, but let’s be honest: when was the last time you called them?
The aha moment
Many agencies think a new ATS is the miracle cure. In reality, 80% of the profit lies in better data flows around your old system. With a smart layer on top, you can see results within weeks, without moving, without endless implementation.
Payoff - what do you take away?
Out-of-date databases quietly cost you tons.
The culprits: data decay, legacy software, human sloppiness.
The remedy: automate, ownership, involve candidates.
Starting small pays off; every percent of clean data saves calls and reputation damage.
And, to be honest: you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Spadework UpToDatabaser is specifically built for staffing agencies looking to close this leak. Connect once, and then the system works in the background. No magic, just up-to-date data, always.
Interested in hassle-free data? Get in touch and discover how much peace that brings. Sounds attractive, right?
