Recruiters in 2025 are under intense pressure to do more with less. With tighter budgets, leaner teams, and constantly changing role requirements, doing “more with less” is no longer optional.
At the same time, rapid shifts in technology and business priorities mean many new hires aren’t fully prepared for their roles.
Two-thirds (66%) of 10,000 business and human resources leaders across many industries and sectors in 93 countries in Deloitte’s 2025 Global Human Capital Trends survey say that most recent hires were not fully prepared, and experience was the most common failing.
In this environment, large enterprises need a strategic approach to talent segmentation: one that divides roles by their importance and how urgently they’re needed.
Rakuna would like to propose the Build / Buy / Borrow / Minimal Investment framework to your talent pipeline. This lets you prioritize recruiting efforts and budgets where they’ll have the most impact.
In short, focus your time and resources on the roles that truly move the needle (and minimize effort on those that won’t).
Talent Segmentation by Priority and Approach
To apply this talent segmentation framework, divide open roles (and the external talent pool) into four buckets:
✅ Build (Invest in Pipeline)
Core, strategic roles with long-term impact deserve investment in pipeline building. For example, if you know you’ll need data engineers or specialized analysts in 6–12 months, start cultivating candidates now. Engage them with targeted email or SMS campaigns even before a job opens. Host or participate in industry events and campus fairs to meet these talent pools early. By building a ready bench of qualified applicants, you shorten future time-to-fill and avoid a last-minute scramble.
✅ Buy (Direct Hire).
For high-priority roles that need to be filled ASAP, such as revenue-driving positions or critical project leads, focus on external hiring. Ramp up sourcing on job boards and social channels, and use employer branding to attract active candidates.
Once applicants are identified, speed up scheduling and interviews with the help of software solutions to automate the entire process, creating a “stress-free” experience. In short, “buy” when you need talent now, and lean on technology (like automated scheduling and Recruitment CRM -managed pipelines) to make fast, high-quality hires.
✅ Borrow (Contingent and Contract)
Some skill gaps are temporary or niche. In these cases, borrow talent through contractors, freelancers, or partnerships. For example, tech firms often plug short-term needs with consultants; healthcare organizations turn to travel nurses; and many companies use third-party agencies for surge hiring. Use your Recruiting CRM to track and re-engage high-potential contractors or alumni workers as a contingent pool.
For entry-level or seasonal roles, leverage event and campus recruiting: attend job fairs and hackathons where you can capture dozens of resumes in one day. Then you can quickly onboard contractors or interns when needed, without bloating permanent headcount.
✅ Minimal Investment.
Finally, for low-impact or commodity roles (e.g. admin support, basic manufacturing jobs, routine compliance roles), take a minimal-investment approach. Use standard sourcing channels and perhaps contract firms, but avoid heavy branding or long pipelines. In other words, fill them as needed and don’t overspend time or budget.
Even here, you can save effort by using basic Recruiting CRM talent segmentation: for instance, tag these roles so recruiters don’t waste effort chasing passive candidates for non-core jobs. Concentrate most of your resources on “Build” and “Buy” categories, where talent scarcity is greatest and ROI on recruiting is highest.
By categorizing roles this way, you allocate recruiting time and budget strategically.
- Core functions get pipelines and engagement (Build),
- Urgent hires get fast-tracked (Buy),
- Flexible needs use contingent pools (Borrow),
- And everything else stays lean (Minimal).
This structured approach avoids chaotic recruiting that either wastes money or leaves key positions empty. As one talent advisor puts it,
“Choosing to build talent internally, hire from the outside, or borrow talent on a temporary basis…is a critical strategic decision”
Industry Spotlights: Tailoring the Strategy
Different industries face unique talent challenges. Here’s how to adapt the Build/Buy/Borrow talent segmentation approach to a few key sectors:
Tech & IT
The tech talent shortage is acute – According to LHH, a leading talent advisory and solutions company, in their Global Workforce Survey, about 30% of employers struggle to find candidates with the right skills.
- For critical development roles, put them in Build: launch internship and coding bootcamp partnerships now, so you’ll have candidates later. Use your recruitment CRM to engage passive developers with niche skills (AI, cybersecurity) early.
- Don’t neglect Borrow: Many tech teams supplement staff with contract engineers. Maintain a bench of freelance experts in your recruiting CRM by tagging consultants. This way, when a big project hits, you can tap known contractors immediately.
Finance & Banking
This sector is increasingly using temporary and entry-level roles. One global survey predicts a surge in contract roles in 2025 to stay agile.
- Build up a Borrow pool of compliance and risk professionals (many entry-level hires fresh from programs) to deploy when regulations or markets shift.
- For senior, strategic hires (e.g., fintech innovators), apply Buy but accelerate scheduling & interviewing to beat competitors.
Healthcare
The nursing and allied health shortage is dire – U.S. forecasts show an over 78,000 Registered Nurses shortfall by 2025. This means many critical roles will remain empty unless you adapt.
- Put most registered-nurse and specialist hiring into the Borrow category: develop relationships with travel-nurse firms and schools of nursing for contract pools.
- For key permanent roles (specialists, leadership), Build – partner with universities for residency programs and offer tuition support to grow future hires.
- Buy for non-critical roles (e.g., support staff) by streamlining interviews with automation. In all cases, don’t forget to leverage recruiting solutions: a mobile event app can capture candidate info at health career fairs, and recruiting CRM drip campaigns can keep potential hires engaged through their lengthy credentialing process.
Manufacturing
The industry faces a huge skills gap – an estimated 3.8 million new workers will be needed by 2033, with half at risk of going unfilled.
- Treat core engineering and automation roles as Build: launch apprenticeship and vocational programs now, and stay in touch with trade school graduates.
- For cyclical or assembly-line needs, put them in Borrow: create a rotating pool of contingent workers with partnering staffing agencies.
- Minimal strategies apply to commodity positions (e.g., basic assembly jobs) – use standard job postings and automated scheduling for quick fills. Continuously analyze your data: if you find a local college is supplying top operators, invest more in that campus in future recruiting.
By tailoring this talent segmentation model to each industry’s reality, recruiters ensure they focus scarce resources on the roles that matter most. The combination of a strategic hiring framework and Rakuna’s tools – CRM for talent pools, Interview Scheduling for speed, and Event & Campus Recruiting for scale – gives enterprise teams the precision and efficiency they need.
In 2025, when every hire counts, this balanced Build/Buy/Borrow/Minimal strategy can turn recruiting into a competitive advantage
Team Rakuna
The Rakuna Team comprises a diverse group of professionals hailing from various corners of the world.
With a passion to enable organizations to hire their next waves of talents, we are dedicated to help organizations stay updated on important recruiting technology and industry best practices.
