Case Study: Nederlandse Spoorwegen achieves an 80% reduction in cost per hire with Lumesse Talent Acquisition

Bringing Talent Acquisition in House Cuts Cost Per Hire by 80%

Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), the Dutch national railway, faced a fragmented, paper-based recruitment process in which business units outsourced 90% of vacancies to agencies, leading to long lead times, weak employer branding and an average cost to hire of €15,000. With no central candidate database or standardized procedures, NS struggled to attract the right graduate and MBA-level talent for roughly 3,000 roles.

NS implemented Lumesse Talent Acquisition to centralize recruitment, standardize workflows and bring hiring almost entirely in-house. Agency use fell to about 10%, cost per hire dropped by 80%, and candidate quality and employer branding improved through a branded careers site, video interviews and richer analytics—while automation let the team handle increased workload without adding headcount.

Nederlandse Spoorwegen