

What are tech recruitment agencies?
Technical recruitment agencies act as independent companies that focus solely on hiring for their clients. Different technical recruitment agencies have different focuses. Some will only work on full time placements; others place contractors at their client’s companies. Small startups all the way through major corporations use technical recruitment agencies to help them find and close top talent. This article will focus primarily on agency recruitment for software engineers. Recruitment agencies exist in most industries, such as law, accounting, finance, administration and healthcare.
How much does it cost to use a tech recruitment agency?
Traditional tech recruitment agencies normally charge companies between 20-25% of an engineer’s first years salary once an offer is made. This is called a placement fee. If the candidate does not last at the company more than three to twelve months, depending on the agreement, the agency will either have to provide a new candidate that gets hired or return the placement fee. Generally, if the agency does not make a placement at the client company they will not get paid.
How do tech recruiters work?
Tech recruiters work in different ways, but their primary responsibilities are building relationships with candidates and clients. Some recruiters even sit on site at their client’s office while they recruit, they may have an email address from their client’s company. Most agencies have their own offices that they work from while they recruit and generate new sales leads. Agencies generally store candidate information in an Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that they can search through and send emails from.
Some agencies will insist on meeting candidates in person before introducing them to a client; most are satisfied with speaking with candidates on the phone before they set them up for an interview with their client. Recruiters at recruiting agencies need to build and maintain relationships with candidates and clients in order to successfully place engineers at tech companies in the Bay Area.
Why do companies and candidates use recruiting agencies?
There are many advantages to using recruiting agencies, for both companies and candidates. For companies, using a recruiting agency means the hiring manager or talent team needs to spend less time reaching out to candidates and scheduling interviews. They can leverage the agency recruiter’s industry knowledge of hiring trends and work with them as a consultative partner. For candidates, working with an agency recruiter is a great way to get connected with multiple companies that are actively hiring in your area. They can provide details on salary data, resume feedback and act as a middleman when coordinating and scheduling interviews and negotiating offers.
What are the drawbacks of working with a recruiting agency?
There are downsides to working with recruiting agencies as well. For companies, a placement through a recruiting agency can be prohibitively expensive. Placing a Software Engineer with a base salary of $115,000 (current industry average in SF) will cost the employer $23,000 at a 20% agreement rate ($150,000 x .20). Since agency recruiters work on commission their interests may not always align with what’s best for the candidate. There are many fantastic recruiters in the Bay Area who always put candidate’s interest first, but there are many inexperienced ones as well. Building solid relationships and communicating are paramount when working with any recruiter or talent acquisition professional.
What’s the alternative to working with a recruiting agency?
Because of the expensive fees agency recruiters can charge, many startups and tech companies opt to bring hiring in house. This means they hire recruiters directly to be part of their team and work on a base salary. This can be more cost effective as companies do not need to pay fees for every hire they make. There may be some bonuses for in house recruiters, but the idea with bringing hiring in house is to have dedicated team members in charge of talent acquisition and hiring process. Companies can and do still use recruiting agencies even if they have an in house talent team.
List and map of Technical Recruiting agencies in the Bay Area
Below are all the technical recruiting agencies I could find that have offices in the Bay Area. There are dozens of more agencies that focus on administrative, accounting, healthcare and recruiting for other fields. From what I can discern, these tech recruitment agencies focus on hiring engineers, though they may recruit for other fields as well. Some tech recruitment agencies have multiple offices in the Bay Area. I only plot one office per company on this map, normally the one that’s in or closest to San Francisco.
Displaying 48 Technical Recruitment Agencies that have offices in the SF Bay Area.
Mainz Brady Group is an IT staffing firm, serving California, Oregon, and Washington.
Company profile Company websiteAt EQ Recruiting we believe that emotional intelligence is one of the most important parts of the interview process and is one of the main t (...)
Company profile Company websiteWe are a team recruiters that collaborate well together & help connect companies and candidates.
Company profile Company websiteBinc is a full service talent firm. We build teams at the pace your business demands.
Company profile Company websiteTaos is your trusted advisor for any technology challenge. Discover why Taos is trusted by thousands of the world's best to solve technology (...)
Company profile Company websiteINSIGHT RECRUITING is a premier search firm with a proven history of success. We provide highly tailored search services to our clients and (...)
Company profile Company websiteWorkbridge Associates specializes in placing IT professionals in hard to fill IT positions for leading Tech companies.
Company profile Company websiteWe are an established provider of comprehensive resourcing solutions ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies.
Company profile Company websiteMindSource is a top tier staffing and consulting agency for technical solutions located in the heart of the Silicon Valley.
Company profile Company websiteJobspring Partners specializes in placing IT professionals in hard to fill IT positions for leading Tech companies.
Company profile Company websiteRGA has brought together a group of experienced and dedicated professional recruiters to satisfy a very specific need for the growth of high (...)
Company profile Company websiteThat's where Nelson's recruiting services come in. ... Engineering Temporary Staffing and Direct Hire Solutions ... Do More with Nelson Empl (...)
Company profile Company websiteTalent acquisition for the startup era. NeoHire South, RockIT Recruiting, TS2 and Hero.jobs have come together as Ejento.
Company profile Company websiteRecruitment Process Outsourcing Company. Recruitment Services to Build Executive, Sales and Technical Teams for Fast Growth Companies.
Company profile Company websiteWe passionately believe every company deserves Dream Candidates, and every person deserves a Dream Job.
Company profile Company websiteRandstad is an employment/recruitment agency for temporary and permanent staffing. Looking for job opportunities or workforce solutions? You (...)
Company profile Company websiteEmploybl is your source for active candidates in the Bay Area. Priced monthly, no hiring fees.
Company profile Company websiteGet a consultation today with Palo Alto Staffing, Silicon Valley's professional staffing agency - results are guaranteed.
Company profile Company websiteInsight Global is an industry leader for IT, Accounting and Finance, Engineering, and Government staffing and managed services.
Company profile Company websiteVolt offers consultative solutions to ensure you have the qualified people you need, the processes to manage them effectively, and an outsou (...)
Company profile Company websiteWe're experts at finding top performers for startups and high-growth companies.
Company profile Company websiteKelly Services is a global leader in workforce management solutions offering staffing services to top companies across a variety of industri (...)
Company profile Company websiteVaco is a leading job recruiting services provider. We provide expert recruiting services to help companies find the qualified candidates th (...)
Company profile Company websiteConnecting promising companies with the talented people who can bring their company to the next level
Company profile Company websiteLooking for your next software engineer or a new tech job? Connect with one of our specialized tech recruiters today.
Company profile Company websiteModern-Day Matchmakers: When it comes to finding the perfect people for your workforce, we're who you go to.
Company profile Company websiteAt Modis, we're excited to see the boundaries between IT and engineering
Company profile Company websiteIn the world of work, The Adecco Group is the world's leading provider of temporary staffing, permanent placement, career transition and tal (...)
Company profile Company websiteWe have helped build some of the most successful companies in the tech industry - matching world class executive & engineering talent with t (...)
Company profile Company websiteVirtusa provides end-to-end digital transformation and information technology (IT) outsourcing services to Global 2000 companies.
Company profile Company websiteTechConnexion is an end-to-end, collaborative, boutique-style recruiting firm supporting organizations from stealth startups up to household (...)
Company profile Company websiteRobert Half connects employers and job seekers to staff positions in finance, law, technology and more. Contact a staffing professional toda (...)
Company profile Company websiteCompanies of all sizes use The Sourcery to build and maintain a healthy pipeline of highly qualified candidates for their open jobs. Startup (...)
Company profile Company websiteTemporary Staffing Agency & Executive Search Firm | San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Denver.
Company profile Company websiteCadre is a tier one recruiting firm that builds teams. Recruiting top tech talent & providing clients with a curated and personalized recrui (...)
Company profile Company websiteTalentBurst provides a full suite of Staffing Solutions, Managed Services Provider (MSP) and Vendor Management System (VMS) Solutions. Call (...)
Company profile Company websiteMondo is the largest national staffing agency specializing exclusively in high-end, niche IT, Tech, & Digital Marketing talent.
Company profile Company websiteBayside Solutions is an industry-leading provider of staff augmentation and consulting services. Since 2001, we’ve built our company around (...)
Company profile Company websiteKBC Staffing Offers Staffing Solutions For Temp, Temp-To-Perm and Direct Hire Placements. Offices in the Bay Area, California.
Company profile Company websiteMountain View Staffing is the trusted recruiting and staffing agency of Silicon Valley based companies. We help startups to Fortune 500 comp (...)
Company profile Company websiteIntelliswift is a premier IT services and solutions company. We provide solutions on enterprise applications development, mobility, big data (...)
Company profile Company websiteThe MitchelLake Group: executive search, consulting and onsite recruitment solutions. for technology-driven innovation
Company profile Company websiteXoriant, a product engineering and technology services company, helps unicorn start-ups and large enterprise software companies to outperfor (...)
Company profile Company websiteAerotek is the leading recruitment and staffing agency worldwide. Our staffing solutions are focused on bringing great people and great orga (...)
Company profile Company website80Twenty is the leading marketing, sales, and creative staffing agency with offices in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and New Y (...)
Company profile Company websiteTech startups and talent don't always find each other. Hustle Hunters brings these groups together so companies attract and maintain a leade (...)
Company profile Company websiteAre you part of a tech recruitment agency with an office in the Bay Area and not on this list? Please email me at connor@employbl.com and I will add you.
This list was programmatically generated from an open source dataset that I maintain on GitHub.