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A shortlist is only as good as how the agency finds people.

Recruitment agencies in India span contingency staffers, retained search firms and embedded RPO partners. Each model charges differently, recruits differently, and keeps different people. Which you choose shapes who you hire.

Contingency staffers, retained search, RPO and EOR all call themselves recruiters. They work nothing alike. Shortlisting an agency starts with knowing the model.

Speak to sales EOR vs entity, in detail

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing teams in India through us.

Teams building in India. First hire to full team.

How recruitment models differ, and what it costs.

Contingency agencies send bodies fast. Retained firms go deep on a single role. RPO embeds with you. EOR adds payroll to recruitment. Each attracts different talent and bills differently.

Contingency agency

EOR with recruitment

How they get paid
Commission only on placement
Flat retainer or day-rate
Who they recruit for
Whoever calls first with the cheque
You, until you end the contract
Quality control
Speed over depth, volume play
Nine-day deep shortlist, vetted for you
How long recruitment takes
Weeks, often rushed
Nine days, no rushing
Your involvement
You filter through dozens
You pick from three to five
Onboarding after hire
They disappear, you run payroll
We own employment, you manage work

Contingency agency
How they get paid Commission only on placement
Who they recruit for Whoever calls first with the cheque
Quality control Speed over depth, volume play
How long recruitment takes Weeks, often rushed
Your involvement You filter through dozens
Onboarding after hire They disappear, you run payroll

EOR with recruitment
How they get paid Flat retainer or day-rate
Who they recruit for You, until you end the contract
Quality control Nine-day deep shortlist, vetted for you
How long recruitment takes Nine days, no rushing
Your involvement You pick from three to five
Onboarding after hire We own employment, you manage work
Day 1
Brief lands with agency, sometimes with five others too
Day 2-3
Agencies start spam-sourcing, candidates screened for speed not fit
Day 4-7
Interview loop, candidates often interviewing elsewhere too
Day 7-10
Best candidate gets offer, second and third choose other jobs
Day 10-14
Onboarding and payroll, agency fee paid, agency gone
Day 30+
Culture fit or pay issues emerge, person leaves, no accountability

Most agencies stop at the offer letter, and the turnover begins.

Contingency recruiters hand off the candidate and vanish. You handle onboarding, payroll, complaints and separation.

We employ the person, field the payroll questions and watch for attrition signals daily. If someone leaves inside the guarantee, we recruit again at no charge.

Speak to sales
Timeline to visible turnover, contingency vs RPO Retention risk emerges faster with hands-off recruitment
₹6,200 Day 1
₹41,500 Day 30
₹1,84,000 Day 90
₹3,12,000 Day 180
Estimated based on typical salary, training cost and time-to-productivity. Actual cost of turnover scales with role and team dynamics.
Who owns the hire after day one
Contingency agency places you Agency paid, no longer your problem
EOR hires you, employment yours Versatile carries turnover risk too

Most contingency recruiters make money on volume and move on. EOR recruitment is built on retention, because if the person leaves in month two, we carry the cost. Model comparison lives in the EOR versus entity calculator, fee section.

Recruitment that owns the outcome.

We source, vet, interview and employ the person. After day one, you manage the work, we manage the relationship, pay and risk.

You run

  • Role scope and team fit
  • Daily work direction and feedback
  • Performance reviews and growth

We handle

  • Sourcing and the nine-day shortlist
  • Pay benchmarking for the role
  • Interview scheduling across zones
  • Employment contract and payroll
  • PF, ESI, TDS and statutory filings
  • Attrition risk monitoring and escalation

You run
  • Define the role and expectations
  • Lead the team and feedback
  • Own career development
  • Make final hire decisions

We handle
  • End-to-end recruitment sourcing
  • Deep vetting and shortlisting
  • Interview coordination
  • Employment on our entity
  • Monthly payroll and compliance
  • Attrition risk watch and alerts

When something happens in India, it is ours.
A candidate is overqualified for the role We surface it before interviews
The hire shows pay-market drift months in We flag it early, help with retention
Someone quits inside the guarantee We recruit again, no extra fee

A named compliance manager owns your account. Not a queue, not a chatbot, one person who already knows your headcount and your last filing.

Account managerMedian first reply 4 to 6 hours
Recruitment coordinatorBrief to shortlist 9 days
Finance associateFilings on time 8 / 8

Our shortlist is three to five people, not twenty.

We interview everyone in your shortlist. No time wasted filtering spam from a recruiter who sent candidates to ten companies simultaneously. Nine days, same-day availability checks, and only who fits gets to you.

Contingency dies when ours finds better people.

We keep the people we hire because we employ them. Contingency recruiters move on once the fee lands, but attrition costs haunt you for a year. Our incentive is your retention.

Pay data is real, not a sales story.

You get benchmark pay ranges for the role, state and company size before a single interview. Not what we think you should pay, but what the market is paying right now for that exact role.

The person who starts is the person you hired.

No surprises on day one, no credential gaps, no bait-and-switch between interview and onboarding. We run background checks, verify employment and archive everything before anyone signs.

Our shortlist is three to five people, not twenty.

We interview everyone in your shortlist. No time wasted filtering spam from a recruiter who sent candidates to ten companies simultaneously. Nine days, same-day availability checks, and only who fits gets to you.

Volume recruitment is for staffing farms, not teams.

Contingency dies when ours finds better people.

We keep the people we hire because we employ them. Contingency recruiters move on once the fee lands, but attrition costs haunt you for a year. Our incentive is your retention.

We lose money when your hire leaves in month two.

Pay data is real, not a sales story.

You get benchmark pay ranges for the role, state and company size before a single interview. Not what we think you should pay, but what the market is paying right now for that exact role.

Contingency recruiters pitch candidates based on commission, not market fit.

Moving someone across

Bring existing teams with full recruitment transparency.

Whether you are transitioning from another recruiter or moving from contingency staffing, we verify everyone, match them against current pay bands and integrate them into our standard recruitment metrics.

Pay benchmarking Updated
Tenure and benefits Kept
Recruitment quality audit Continuous
Transition period 0 days

Large team transitions include full market re-benchmarking on our process.

Supporting evidence

Recruitment by a licensed employer, not a commission broker.

We recruit through Foo Falcon Technologies Pvt Ltd, our own Bengaluru entity since 2022, with employment contracts to match.

  • Incorporation
  • GST
  • EPFO code
  • ESIC
  • Shops and Establishments
  • PAN and TAN
  • Udyam MSME
What we verify
  • Incorporation Ministry of Corporate Affairs
  • GST Goods and Services Tax
  • EPFO code Employees Provident Fund Organisation
  • ESIC Ministry of Labour and Employment
  • Shops and Establishments Government of Karnataka
  • PAN and TAN Income Tax Department
  • Udyam MSME Government of India

Every hire is on our payroll, our risk and our reputation. No recruiter vanishing after placement day.

200

people sourced, vetted and employed in one cycle, zero churn in the first ninety days

33

months of retained relationships on one client account, staffing steady, no recruit-and-churn

9 days

from brief to final shortlist, interviewing complete, ready for your decision

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing teams in India through us.

G2 4.8 / 5 on G2, from companies employing through us.

Recruitment that lasts.

Clients who built teams through our recruitment model describe how year two is smoother than year one.

Video
Bharath Rasoi KS Rajeshwari Founder, Bharath Rasoi
Video
Open Theatre Anand Raj Founder, Open Theatre
Abid Hassan Verified client
Sensibull
“They moved fast and took the whole compliance side off my plate. For a founder making an early India hire, that is exactly what you want.”
Abid Hassan Founder and CEO, Sensibull
Via G2
Moonshot
“Every option was either 'set up your own entity' or a platform that quotes a great price then hits you with add-ons. Versatile was the one that actually made it simple. First payroll ran on time. No scramble.”
Angad S. Co-Founder, Moonshot
Via G2
Digital Marketing Agency
“Contracts, PF, ESI, TDS and payroll all in one place. Invoicing in USD meant zero exchange rate surprises. The compliance rigour is genuinely reassuring.”
Vedant T. Founder, Digital Marketing Agency
Via G2
Design Studio
“Setting up in a new country can get messy fast, but their India EOR made onboarding feel easy. The team is responsive, clear, and great to work with.”
Setu C. Studio Owner, Design Studio
Via G2
US Startup
“We used Versatile to hire our first employee in India after months of putting it off because the compliance side seemed like a mess. They walked us through it and now we don't think about it.”
Verified US Founder First-time Founder, US Startup
Via G2
Mid-Market Tech Co.
“Versatile consistently delivered work that was both strategically sharp and execution-ready. Their turnaround times are impressive, and they think about problems the way an in-house team would.”
Shivani K. Senior Manager, Tech TA
Via G2
Growth-stage Startup
“Their team was highly responsive, professional, and easy to work with. They made a complex process feel simple.”
Mukul S. Core Team, Growth-stage Startup

Case studies.

Largest food delivery app in India, decacorn View case study The world's largest professional network, part of Microsoft View case study Legacy US software company, publishing platforms View case study

One fee covers sourcing and employment.

Pay 12% of annual CTC for recruitment on day ninety, then $149 per employee per month for employment. No separate vendor invoices, no handoff, no disappeared recruiter.

Recruitment

You need us to source
12% of annual CTC

Covers junior through mid-senior hiring. Senior roles are 15%, leadership are quoted per scope. Candidates you bring to us are free.

Send us a role
  • End-to-end sourcing in your market
  • Nine-day shortlist guarantee
  • Market pay benchmarking included
  • Interview scheduling by coordinators
  • Background checks and verification
  • Billed at day ninety only
  • 15% on senior, free if you source
  • People start on our entity or yours
  • End-to-end sourcing in your market
  • Nine-day shortlist guarantee
  • Market pay benchmarking included
  • Interview scheduling by coordinators
Four additional terms
  • Background checks and verification
  • Billed at day ninety only
  • 15% on senior, free if you source
  • People start on our entity or yours

Building a whole team or filling leadership? Speak to sales.

Employer of Record

After recruitment clears
$149 /employee/mo

After hire twenty the whole team moves to $129. USD invoicing, monthly billing, walk away anytime.

Start hiring
  • Employment on our Indian entity
  • Payroll each month, payslips included
  • PF, ESIC, PT and TDS filed monthly
  • Gratuity accrual from day one
  • Health cover through our partner
  • One USD invoice, your currency
  • Form 16, onboarding and checks
  • Attrition monitoring and support
  • Employment on our Indian entity
  • Payroll each month, payslips included
  • PF, ESIC, PT and TDS filed monthly
  • Gratuity accrual from day one
Four more details
  • Health cover through our partner
  • One USD invoice, your currency
  • Form 16, onboarding and checks
  • Attrition monitoring and support

Twenty-plus team or existing staff to move? Speak to sales.

At employee twenty-one

$149 $129 /employee/mo

The whole team reprices. No renegotiation, no term.

Recruitment and employment together

  • Sourcing, vetting and shortlisting
  • Nine-day placement guarantee
  • Market pay benchmarking
  • Background verification and checks
  • Employment contract from our entity
  • Monthly payroll and payslips
  • PF, ESIC, PT and TDS monthly
  • Form 16 and statutory documents

Team size twenty-one drops the rate

$149 $129 /employee/mo

All employees move to $129 on the same day, no changes to the contract or entity.

Recruitment and employment together

  • Sourcing, vetting and shortlisting
  • Nine-day placement guarantee
  • Market pay benchmarking
  • Background verification and checks
  • Employment contract from our entity
  • Monthly payroll and payslips
  • PF, ESIC, PT and TDS monthly
  • Form 16 and statutory documents

Recruitment fees invoice at 12% of annual CTC on day ninety. Employment billing starts immediately, salary and statutory at actuals. Devices, workspace and insurance bill through partners at cost. The EOR versus entity calculator will run your recruitment scenario with both fees.

Shortlisting the right recruitment agency.

Eight questions to ask before you pick a recruitment model. Number eight is when you should skip EOR recruitment entirely.

What is the difference between a contingency recruiter and an EOR recruiter?

Contingency staffers take a commission after placement and disappear. They profit on volume, not retention. EOR recruiters employ the person, carry the risk and stay accountable if they leave. Same-day availability, pay benchmarking and attrition watch are built in, not optional extras.

Why does a nine-day shortlist matter?

Candidates interviewing with contingency firms are interviewing with five agencies at once and often already talking to other companies directly. Our nine-day process is deep and exclusive. Everyone in your shortlist is real, available and not juggling other offers simultaneously.

How is pay benchmarking different from what the recruiter told me?

Contingency recruiters pitch salaries based on what they think you will pay and what attracts the candidate they are pushing. We baseline pay to the role, geography and company size against current data. You know the market rate before anyone in your interview loop mentions a number.

Who is responsible for a bad hire?

Contingency recruiters hand off the candidate and move on. If attrition happens in month two, you already paid them. We employ the person, so if they leave before ninety days, we recruit again for free. Accountability lives with who carries the risk.

How does interview scheduling work?

Contingency firms expect you to coordinate across time zones with everyone. We do it. Your team shows up at the agreed time, candidate is ready, no last-minute cancellations from the recruiter, no rescheduling loop.

What if we already have a team and just need one hire?

We recruit anyone, any seniority, any team size. Single hire gets the same nine-day shortlist, pay benchmarking and verification as a ten-person team. The process does not scale down.

Do we have to keep using your recruitment for every hire?

No. Some use us for core roles and contingency firms for contract work. Some use us only when headcount is critical. Recruitment and employment are decoupled, so pick what fits.

When should we not use EOR recruitment?

If you need a contractor for under three months and the relationship is clearly temporary, contract them instead. If you have a functioning internal recruiting team and high-volume junior hiring, contingency might save money. And if the entire plan is keeping permanent roles on freelance sites, we will decline, because that is misclassification, not recruitment.

Longer reading: EOR India 2026 · EOR India playbook · Pay employees in India

Tell us where you are on the decision.

A role you want to hire, a team you want moved, or just the two routes to compare. A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours.

A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours, not an autoresponder.

We use these details to respond to your enquiry.

A named person replies in 4 to 6 hours, not an autoresponder. We use these details to respond to your enquiry.

What the first call covers

30 minutes

A cost comparison for your headcount, on your numbers, both routes.

  • A written cost breakdown
  • Entity documents before the call
  • PF, ESI, TDS, termination law
  • No follow-up sequence
Book a call →

You pick the time, we send a Meet link. Any timezone.

See pricing Speak to sales