Why Candidates Don't Answer Your Calls (And What To Do About It)

If you've been in recruitment for more than a couple of years, you'll have noticed it: the phone just doesn't work like it used to. Pick-up rates across the industry have dropped below 20%, and for some sectors they're closer to 10%.

The shift started before COVID

It's tempting to blame the pandemic, but the trend started earlier. Caller ID, spam filters, and a general cultural shift towards asynchronous communication all played a part. Candidates — especially younger ones — simply don't pick up calls from unknown numbers.

Add to that the sheer volume of calls candidates receive from multiple agencies, and it's no surprise they've tuned out. The experience of being cold-called about irrelevant roles has trained an entire generation to let calls go to voicemail.

What actually works now

The agencies seeing the best results have adapted their approach. They're not abandoning the phone — but they're using it differently.

• Lead with a text or WhatsApp message before calling. A short, personalised message that explains who you are and why you're calling increases pick-up rates by 3-4x.
• Call at the right time. Data from millions of outreach attempts shows that early morning (7-8am) and early evening (5-6pm) dramatically outperform midday calls.
• Make the first interaction valuable. Don't lead with 'I have a role.' Lead with something specific to them — their CV, their experience, the shift pattern you know suits them.

Where AI fits in

This is exactly the kind of problem AI outreach tools were built to solve. An AI caller can work through hundreds of candidates in the time it takes a human to dial twenty. It doesn't get frustrated, it doesn't skip numbers, and it can follow up persistently without burning out your consultants.

The key is making sure the AI interaction still feels human. Candidates can tell when they're talking to a robocall — but a well-designed AI voice agent, with natural pacing and genuine responsiveness, is a different thing entirely.

The bottom line

The agencies that adapt to how candidates actually want to communicate will win. That means multi-channel outreach, better timing, and smarter use of technology. The ones that keep hammering the phones the old way will keep watching their fill rates drop.