Recruitment process outsourcing provider Advanced RPO acquired Aspirant RPO, headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, on May 1, 2024.

Advanced RPO delivers full-cycle, project-based, custom, and high-volume RPO solutions to its clients across high-growth, mid-market, and enterprise sectors. The acquisition enriches Advanced RPO’s offering, specifically adding front-end talent acquisition capabilities such as recruitment marketing and broader talent advisory. These services ensure clients are prepared to fill current and anticipated future skills gaps resulting from retirement horizons and roles emerging from applying advanced technologies.

Aspirant RPO provides tailored recruiting solutions, including enterprise and project recruiting, talent advisory services, executive recruiting, and employer branding services; its holistic approach supports the entire talent acquisition ecosystem. The country and industry footprints of both organizations are well aligned. The acquisition will add ~80 employees to the existing ~100 Advanced RPO employees. The rebranding and integration of Aspirant RPO are scheduled for completion by Q4 2024.

The acquisition expands Advanced RPO’s service portfolio and further strengthens its market position within the chemical and manufacturing industries. NelsonHall estimates the combined RPO 2023 revenues for both organizations were $21.6m.

Aspirant RPO’s client engagement approach aligns with Advanced RPO’s high-touch, results-oriented delivery model. The complementary service offerings provided by Aspriant RPO will be valuable to client organizations as they seek to enrich their employee value propositions, revitalize employer branding campaigns, and refresh recruitment marketing strategies to attract candidates with the right talent and skills.

NelsonHall views this acquisition as a service expansion supporting Advanced RPO’s end-to-end growth journey. We anticipate synergies between the client portfolios will enable cross-selling opportunities and front-end talent acquisition advisory options for existing clients. Moving forward, Advanced RPO will be able to provide recruitment marketing, EVP, and HR advisory services, enabling internal client resources to focus on strategic initiatives that deliver longer-term value.

Aspirant RPO is Advanced RPO’s first acquisition. Yet, the company states that it has both organic and inorganic growth strategies, indicating that it may look to further acquisitions in the future.  

Several other RPO vendors have made similar acquisitions to extend their capabilities, including:

• Kelly Services acquired Motion Recruitment Partners, LLC (MRP) in May 2024
• Hudson RPO acquired Executive Solutions, a Dubai-based talent solutions company, in March 2024 and Hudson Global Resources, a Singapore-based RPO provider, in November 2023
• Job Mobz acquired Golden Hive RPO, a Sacramento, CA-based RPO provider, in December 2023.

Service delivery transformation is ongoing as RPO vendors examine all aspects of their operating models and offerings, and buyers focus on modular services to support prioritized hiring campaigns and staff augmentation. Organizations will leverage broader and strategic services for infrastructure modernization and recruiting process optimization. Additionally, consulting will remain in demand as organizations seek DEI, SWP, change leadership, and technology consulting services to support near-term and longer-term transformational and workforce planning strategies.  

To support the rebound in hiring volumes anticipated in H2 2024 and the need for broader HR and technology expertise, NelsonHall expects more acquisitions in the RPO market in the year ahead.