If you run a manufacturing automation company, you already know the talent challenge you're facing. You need controls engineers who can program Allen-Bradley and Siemens systems. Robotics technicians who understand cobots and vision systems. Sales engineers who can translate technical specs into customer ROI. And you need them yesterday.

But here's the problem: you don't have enough open positions to justify a full-time internal recruiter. Your HR person is already stretched thin with compliance, benefits, and employee relations. And traditional recruiting agencies? They send you resumes for CNC machinists when you asked for an IIoT specialist.

This is exactly where fractional recruiting services come in.

What Is Fractional Recruiting?

Fractional recruiting is like having an experienced in-house recruiter on your team, but without the full-time salary, benefits, and overhead. You get dedicated recruiting expertise for a set number of hours per month or a fixed monthly fee.

Think of it this way: you wouldn't hire a full-time CFO if you only needed financial strategy a few days per month. The same logic applies to recruiting. If you have 3-8 open positions at any given time, or if your hiring comes in waves (like when you land a big integration project), fractional recruiting gives you professional recruiting support exactly when you need it.

Why Manufacturing Automation Companies Need a Different Approach

Let's be honest. Recruiting for automation companies is nothing like recruiting for retail or hospitality. Your open positions require niche technical knowledge. A job description for a controls engineer might include requirements like "5+ years with Rockwell Automation ControlLogix platforms" or "experience with OPC UA protocol implementation."

Most generalist recruiters see that and have no idea what they're looking at.

Manufacturing automation sits at the intersection of mechanical engineering, electrical systems, software, and industrial operations. The people you need are rare. They're usually happily employed. And they get recruited constantly by everyone from automotive OEMs to semiconductor fabs to Amazon's warehouse automation division.

You need a recruiter who can:

• Actually understand what a SCADA system does
• Tell the difference between a robotics programmer and a robotics integration engineer
• Have a credible conversation with a passive candidate about their experience with motion control
• Know which online communities and forums your ideal candidates hang out in
• Understand why someone with pharmaceutical manufacturing experience might be perfect for your cleanroom automation project

That level of specialization is hard to find in a full-time hire, especially if you're a company with 50-200 employees.

The Real Cost of Leaving Positions Open

Before we talk about what fractional recruiting costs, let's talk about what unfilled positions are already costing you.

When you can't find a controls engineer for that new line integration project, the project sits. Your client gets frustrated. You might miss contractual deadlines. Your existing engineers are stretched thinner, working overtime, and starting to burn out.

When you can't hire that technical sales engineer, you're leaving revenue on the table. Your competitors are winning deals because they have people in front of customers and you don't.

Industry data shows that the average time to fill a specialized automation role is somewhere between 60-90 days. If that role has a salary of $120,000, you're losing about $10,000 in productivity for every month it stays open. And that doesn't count the opportunity cost of delayed projects or lost sales.

Most manufacturing automation companies we talk to have tried one of three approaches:

Option 1: The DIY approach.

Your operations manager or engineering director posts jobs on LinkedIn and Indeed, reviews resumes in their spare time, and tries to schedule interviews between project meetings. This rarely works because they don't have time, and recruiting is a full-time skill.

Option 2: The traditional recruiting agency.

You pay 20-25% of the first-year salary per hire. For that $120,000 controls engineer, that's $24,000-$30,000. If you make three hires in a year, you just spent $75,000+ on recruiting fees. And the quality? Hit or miss, because the agency is working 40 other clients and doesn't really understand your specific technology stack.

Option 3: Hiring a full-time recruiter.

A good in-house recruiter with manufacturing experience costs $70,000-$90,000 in salary, plus another 30% in benefits and taxes. You're looking at a $100,000+ annual investment. That only makes sense if you're hiring 15-20+ people per year.

Fractional recruiting is option four.

How Fractional Recruiting Actually Works

Here's what a typical fractional recruiting engagement looks like for a manufacturing automation company:

Month 1: Discovery and setup.

Your fractional recruiter spends time learning your business. They tour your facility (or your client sites). They sit down with your engineering leadership to understand the technical requirements for open roles. They review your compensation structure and employer brand. They map out your hiring priorities for the next 6-12 months.

Ongoing: Active recruiting.

Your fractional recruiter becomes an extension of your team. They're proactively sourcing candidates through specialized channels (not just posting jobs and hoping). They're reaching out to passive candidates on LinkedIn, engaging in automation engineering forums, and mining their existing network. They're screening candidates for both technical fit and cultural fit. They're scheduling interviews and managing the candidate experience. They're negotiating offers and handling the logistics of onboarding.

The key difference:

This person understands your industry. They know what questions to ask a PLC programmer. They can spot a strong robotics integration portfolio. They understand why your MES project requires someone with pharmaceutical validation experience.

You typically work with them on a monthly retainer (often $3,000-$7,000 per month depending on scope and hiring volume) or on a hybrid model where you pay a reduced monthly fee plus a smaller success fee per hire.

When Fractional Recruiting Makes the Most Sense

Fractional recruiting is ideal if you find yourself in any of these situations:

You have consistent but moderate hiring needs.

You're not hiring 30 people this year, but you're not hiring zero either. You have 3-6 open positions at any given time, and they're specialized roles that take time to fill.

You're growing but not ready for a full HR buildout.

You've reached the size where hiring is becoming a real bottleneck, but you're not large enough to justify an entire talent acquisition department.

Your hiring comes in waves.

Maybe you just won a big project and need to staff up quickly. Or maybe you're opening a new facility. Or you're launching a new service line. Fractional recruiting gives you the ability to scale recruiting effort up and down based on actual need.

You've tried agencies and been disappointed.

You're tired of paying premium fees for mediocre candidates who don't understand the technical side of your business.

You need specialized expertise.

Your industry (automation, robotics, controls, industrial IoT) requires recruiters who actually understand the technology and can speak the language.

What to Look for in a Fractional Recruiting Partner

Not all fractional recruiters are created equal. Here's what matters when you're evaluating potential partners:

Industry experience is non-negotiable.

You want someone who has recruited for manufacturing, automation, or industrial technology before. Ask them to explain the difference between a controls engineer and an automation engineer. If they can't, keep looking.

They should have a process, not just a database.

Great recruiters don't just rely on people they've placed before. They have a systematic approach to sourcing, a network they've built over years, and a methodology for assessing technical fit.

Look for a consultative approach.

The best fractional recruiters will push back on unrealistic job descriptions, advise you on market salary data, and help you think strategically about your talent pipeline. You want a partner, not just a vendor.

Ask about their sourcing methods.

Are they only posting on job boards, or are they proactively reaching out to passive candidates? Do they know where automation engineers hang out online? Do they attend industry events?

Chemistry matters.

This person will represent your company to candidates. They'll be in meetings with your leadership team. Make sure the working relationship feels right.

The Bottom Line

Manufacturing automation companies face a unique talent challenge. The roles you need to fill require specialized knowledge, the candidate pool is small, and the competition for talent is fierce.

Fractional recruiting gives you access to experienced, specialized recruiting expertise without the cost and commitment of a full-time hire. It's flexible, cost-effective, and purpose-built for companies that need professional recruiting support but don't have the volume to justify building an entire TA function.

If you're tired of roles sitting open for months, if you're frustrated with agencies that don't understand your industry, or if you're ready to take a more strategic approach to hiring, fractional recruiting might be exactly what your team needs.

The talent is out there. You just need someone who knows how to find it.