Blog

From 60 Days to 11: How TechTree Slashed Time-to-Hire by 70%

Written by Laurence Sangarde-Brown | Oct 3, 2025 2:29:42 PM

Recruitment has always battled the clock. The longer it takes to fill a role, the more costly it becomes — both in direct financial terms and in lost productivity. For engineering teams, where every delay can stall product development, time-to-hire isn’t just a metric, it’s a strategic lever.

For DevTalent’s fintech client, the traditional benchmark of 45–60 days per engineering hire was a death sentence for their six-month, 200-engineer mandate. Enter TechTree, whose AI + recruiter network delivered something remarkable: an average time-to-hire of just 11.4 days.

That’s a 70% reduction compared to industry norms.

Why Time-to-Hire Matters

1. Speed Equals Innovation

Every day an engineering seat stays empty, product delivery slows. In this case, engineers weren’t just filling generic roles — they were building out AI hubs that represented the future of the fintech’s competitive edge. Faster hiring directly accelerated innovation.

2. Speed Protects Teams

Delayed hiring forces existing staff to carry the load, leading to burnout, attrition, and declining morale. By staffing quickly, TechTree prevented the ripple effect of stretched teams.

3. Speed Wins Candidates

In hot markets, top candidates are on and off the job market in 10 days or less. A 45-day cycle means you’re losing talent to competitors who move faster. By hiring in 11.4 days, TechTree positioned the fintech as a decisive employer of choice.

How TechTree Achieved 11.4 Days

AI-Driven Shortlisting

Weeks of manual sourcing were eliminated. Recruiters didn’t waste time screening poor-fit candidates because AI had already pre-ranked the pool.

Rapid Recruiter Deployment

20 recruiters engaged within 24 hours meant no lag between sourcing and outreach. Candidates moved into interviews almost immediately.

Continuous Feedback Loops

Recruiter feedback into AI systems sharpened results in real-time. Misaligned profiles were filtered out faster, keeping pipelines clean.

Candidate-Centric Communication

Fast, transparent updates meant candidates stayed engaged. There was no “black hole” experience, which kept acceptance rates high and decision-making quick.

The Strategic Impact

This wasn’t just a nice metric to present to leadership — it changed the trajectory of the project:

  • Engineers onboarded months ahead of schedule allowed the fintech to hit R&D milestones earlier.

  • Cost savings emerged from reduced agency inefficiency and shorter vacancy periods.

  • Employer brand uplift came from candidates praising the smooth, professional experience.

Comparison to Traditional Models

  • Traditional: 45–60 days per hire.

  • TechTree: 11.4 days.

  • Reduction: 70% faster.

In a world where engineering candidates are highly mobile, that difference is the line between securing top talent and consistently missing out.

Lessons for TA Leaders

  1. Speed is a competitive advantage. Treat time-to-hire as a strategic KPI, not just an operational one.

  2. AI eliminates bottlenecks. Automating sourcing and ranking cuts weeks off the process.

  3. Network effects matter. Deploying recruiters quickly creates immediate engagement momentum.

  4. Candidate experience accelerates decisions. Fast, transparent communication keeps pipelines moving.

KPI Insight

  • 11.4 days average time-to-hire

  • 70% faster than industry benchmarks

  • 151 candidates interviewed in weeks, not months

TechTree didn’t just cut time-to-hire — it reset expectations of what’s possible in enterprise-scale recruitment.

In the next article, we’ll examine how these process improvements translated into tangible hiring results: 31 engineers onboarded in just 7 weeks, with an 80% offer-acceptance rate.

 

Download: DevTalents & TechTree Case Study