The True Cost of Frontline Hiring (And How to Reduce It by 80%)

Hiring frontline workers is tougher than ever.
Whether you’re running a care home, a restaurant, or a busy retail store, finding the right people — and keeping them — has become one of the biggest challenges for businesses today.

Most companies focus on the obvious costs: advertising roles, paying recruiters, and running interviews. But there’s a hidden side to hiring that quietly drains your budget and slows your team down.

In this blog, we’ll break down the true cost of manual screening, show you where the hidden costs are hiding, and share how Lily helps businesses reduce screening costs by up to 80%, all while improving the candidate experience.

The Real Time Behind a “Quick” Screening Call

A typical phone screen might last 10–15 minutes.
On paper, that seems manageable. But when you dig deeper, the actual time investment per candidate is much higher.

Here’s what often gets overlooked:

• Scheduling: Back-and-forth emails or calls to find a time that works.

• No-shows: Time wasted waiting for candidates who don’t turn up.

• Post-call admin: Logging notes, updating the ATS, sharing feedback.

• Follow-ups: Chasing candidates or rescheduling missed calls.

When you add it all up, a “15-minute call” often takes 30–40 minutes of total recruiter time.

If you’re hiring 50 people a month, that’s 1,500–2,000 minutes — or 25–33 hours of your team’s time, every single month, spent just on screening.

And that’s before you factor in recruitment agency fees, advertising costs, and the impact of unfilled roles on your business performance.

The Financial Impact: It’s More Than Just Wages

Let’s say your in-house recruiter earns £35,000 a year.
Including National Insurance and other on-costs, the fully loaded cost is closer to £42,000 — or roughly £20 per hour.

Using our earlier example:

• 30 hours spent screening = £600 per month

• Over a year, that’s £7,200 just on screening time

And this is just for one recruiter.
If you’re scaling across multiple locations or hiring hundreds of frontline workers, these numbers grow quickly — often hitting tens of thousands of pounds each year.

The Bigger Problem: Candidate Drop-Off

While your team is busy juggling scheduling and admin, great candidates are slipping through the cracks.

Frontline workers often apply for multiple jobs at once. If you don’t engage them quickly, they’ll move on to another employer — or take a different offer before you’ve even scheduled a call.

Every missed call, every delayed response, increases the risk of:

• Higher no-show rates

• Longer time-to-hire

• Wasted advertising spend

• Lost revenue from unfilled roles

How Lily Cuts Screening Costs by 80%

Lily automates the screening process from start to finish — but keeps it human and empathetic.

Here’s how it works:

1. Instant scheduling – Candidates can book screening calls automatically, at times that work for them.

2. AI-powered phone screens – Our AI agent speaks with candidates, just like a recruiter would, 24/7.

3. Automatic scoring and notes – Every conversation is summarised and scored instantly, ready in your ATS.

4. Real-time updates – No more chasing or manual data entry.

By removing the need for manual scheduling and screening, Lily saves most businesses 80% of their screening costs, while giving candidates a faster, smoother experience.

The Result: Faster, Fairer Hiring

With Lily, businesses can:

• Hire faster, filling roles before competitors do

• Spend less, freeing up budget for growth

• Improve fairness, with consistent, unbiased screening

• Reduce drop-off, keeping more great candidates engaged

It’s not just about saving money.
It’s about building a hiring process that’s efficient, scalable, and truly human.

See How Much You Could Save

Want to know what your current screening process is really costing you?

Use our ROI calculator to compare manual screening costs with Lily — or book a demo to see how we can transform your hiring.

“We were amazed at how much time we saved. Our team can now focus on connecting with candidates and supporting our staff, instead of chasing phone calls.”
– Operations Director, Care Group