Worko was founded during a major shift in the job market

Around 2010, there was a shift in the job market. Unemployment dropped, and more people entered the workforce. What had previously been an employer-driven market became an employee-driven one—something that would prove pivotal to how we at Worko aim to transform the recruitment industry.

This shift meant that employers faced a new dilemma. Instead of filtering through large volumes of applicants for open positions, recruiters now needed to focus their attention on attracting passive candidates—a much harder group to reach, as these individuals are typically securely employed and have many options.

Worko was founded in 2011, right in the middle of this shift. However, the Worko you see today didn’t truly take shape until 2015.

Of course, it was a disappointment—for both us and the client. But we kept in touch with the candidate. A few months later, we learned the project had wrapped up, and the candidate was then open to switching jobs. The client still needed to hire, and in the end, the dream candidate joined the company.

That moment made us realize we were onto something. It became the catalyst for our pivot: away from the traditional role-based approach, and toward treating recruitment as a continuous activity.

Since then, we at Worko have seen our method work time and again, and we’re often surprised at how stagnant the rest of the recruitment industry remains.

Here’s how we aim to solve recruitment challenges

The job market shift brought challenges that companies—especially in Engineering & Construction and IT & Tech—still struggle with today.

Reactive instead of Proactive

The first challenge is that companies act reactively, not proactively, in recruitment.

Typically, the hiring process begins only after the need arises. But by then, it’s already too late. After budget approval, running the process, and onboarding someone with a potential notice period, it’s not unusual for nine whole months to pass before the position is filled, causing all kinds of problems along the way.

Continuous recruitment

The second challenge is that it’s nearly impossible to align the availability of the perfect candidate with the short time window when a job ad is posted. In IT and Construction, most potential candidates already have good jobs and are only passively—not actively—looking. To recruit the best people, you need to do it continuously.

How we work with proactive recruitment

Many companies face situations where they need staff urgently. That forces them to hire under time pressure and to choose only from candidates available at that moment, instead of hiring the person best suited for the job.

Instead of starting the hiring process when the need arises, we help our clients take a more strategic approach. After a decade in the business, we know it’s better to do one interview a month over a year than twelve interviews in a single month.

We support our clients by continuously reaching out to the most suitable candidates for their workplace. We stay in touch with those candidates and keep track of when they may become open to new opportunities. This way, we always have a pipeline of strong candidates ready.

We use data to make more successful hires

We take a data-driven approach. This includes visualizing the client’s candidate pipeline, which supports their planning and growth goals, and ensures they have the capacity to deliver on time.

We also use data to minimize risk. Instead of relying solely on CVs and cover letters, we combine data points to assess whether the candidate fits the company and whether their expectations align with what the company offers.

We’re also long-term in how we handle the recruitment process itself. We never simply hand over a candidate and move on. We work closely with our clients throughout the process. We prospect, select, and qualify candidates, then follow up with both candidate and client to ensure a great match.

And by the way, that dream candidate who sparked our pivot? He’s now the Country Manager for Sweden at the company we helped him join.