CASE STUDY

CASE STUDY

VolkerWessels

How VolkerWessels implemented Recruitee + HirePort and streamlined agency management across 55 subsidiary Companies

Netherlands, United Kingdom, North-America, Germany

Location

Construction

Industry

Intent Prompting

User prompts Joule AI agent in SAP

Send request

AI agents communication

Winston AI agent to HirePort (Porty)

Autonomous Selection & Filtering

Selection process

Compliance & Data Mapping

Receiving and contracting candidates

Unified Output Sync

Linears / ATS Integration

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Employees

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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

VolkerWessels, one of the Netherlands' largest infrastructure, construction, real estate development and engineering companies

VolkerWessels, one of the Netherlands' largest infrastructure, construction, real estate development and engineering companies, operates through 55 decentralized businesses with approximately 9,000 employees in the Netherlands and has in addition three divisions in the United Kindom, North America and Germany. Max, part of the Corporate Development team at VolkerWessels, was tasked with modernizing recruitment across this complex organization while managing relationships with over 50 recruitment agencies. "I needed a solution where I could post a vacancy to an agency with one push of a button," Max explains. "Not deal with endless emails and manual processes."

ABOUT

ABOUT

ABOUT

About VolkerWessels

VolkerWessels is a leading Dutch construction and engineering company operating through 55 individual businesses. These range from specialized firms to large operations like KWS (road construction), Aveco de Bondt (engineering & advisory) and Visser & Smit Bouw (construction) , each with unique recruitment needs and varying levels of recruitment expertise.

INDUSTRY

Infrastructure, construction, real estate development and engineering

EMPLOYEE COUNT

9,000 in the Netherlands

COUNTRIES ACTIVE

Netherlands, United Kingdom, North-America, Germany

STRUCTURE

Decentralized operations with varying recruitment needs per location

ATS

Recruitee

No system, no control

How it was before?

“We’re spread across the entire country, with more than 150 locations occasionally involved in recruitment,” Tessa recalls.

The solution

What happened after implementing HirePort?

In 2023, Q-Park implemented Recruitee as their ATS, with HirePort fully integrated to manage their agency relationships.

Tracking which agencies had which vacancies
Following up on response times via phone and email
Managing candidate data across dozens of email threads
No visibility into agency performance
Compliance nightmares with candidate data scattered everywhere
One central place for all agency communication
Standardized workflows
Real-time tracking of agency performance
Full compliance with data protection regulations
Direct communication between hiring managers and agencies
“In 2023, we made the decision to professionalize our recruitment process and started by implementing Recruitee as our ATS. It quickly became clear, however, that collaboration with recruitment agencies was not as efficient or effective within Recruitee as we had hoped. Both Q-Park and our partner agencies lacked a clear overview and a shared dashboard to collaborate smoothly. As a result, a significant amount of manual effort was still required, something that did not align with our ambition to professionalize. That’s when we chose to partner with HirePort."
“What really impressed me about HirePort is that they take real time to sit with their customers,” says Tessa. “They ask where the pain points are, what’s going well, and you actually see changes based on that feedback. It’s not just a sales pitch — it’s a genuine partnership.”
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No system, no control

How it was before?

“We’re spread across the entire country, with more than 150 locations occasionally involved in recruitment,” Tessa recalls.

The solution

What happened after implementing HirePort?

In 2023, Q-Park implemented Recruitee as their ATS, with HirePort fully integrated to manage their agency relationships.

Tracking which agencies had which vacancies
Following up on response times via phone and email
Managing candidate data across dozens of email threads
No visibility into agency performance
Compliance nightmares with candidate data scattered everywhere
One central place for all agency communication
Standardized workflows
Real-time tracking of agency performance
Full compliance with data protection regulations
Direct communication between hiring managers and agencies
“In 2023, we made the decision to professionalize our recruitment process and started by implementing Recruitee as our ATS. It quickly became clear, however, that collaboration with recruitment agencies was not as efficient or effective within Recruitee as we had hoped. Both Q-Park and our partner agencies lacked a clear overview and a shared dashboard to collaborate smoothly. As a result, a significant amount of manual effort was still required, something that did not align with our ambition to professionalize. That’s when we chose to partner with HirePort."
“What really impressed me about HirePort is that they take real time to sit with their customers,” says Tessa. “They ask where the pain points are, what’s going well, and you actually see changes based on that feedback. It’s not just a sales pitch — it’s a genuine partnership.”
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"Everyone had their own way of working," Tessa explains. "Some used email, others phone, some WhatsApp. You just couldn't keep track anymore."

"Everyone had their own way of working," Tessa explains. "Some used email, others phone, some WhatsApp. You just couldn't keep track anymore."

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IMPACT

IMPACT

IMPACT

Implementation and Impact

Working with implementation partner MatchLab, VolkerWessels achieved a remarkably fast deployment despite the compressed timeline:

Lightning-fast implementation

"In the beginning, agencies were somewhat resistant," Tessa admits. "They were saying 'Q-Park is coming with yet another application we have to use.' But after we had three-way conversations between us, the agencies, and HirePort, they really started seeing the advantages."

Decentralized approach

"lf I have to calculate it conservatively, 1 save several days per quarter," Tessa reports. "Just on organizing my input alone. Everything is centralized. Everyone knows where to find things and where to put things."

Improved visibility

The recent move to full white-label integration within Recruitee has been transformative: "One don't have to click six different things anymore. Especially after the last update - fantastic! Everything is now in one place."

Streamlined communication

The recent move to full white-label integration within Recruitee has been transformative: "One don't have to click six different things anymore. Especially after the last update - fantastic! Everything is now in one place."

Dramatic efficiency gains

"Speed matters in recruitment, but so does having the right communication tools. HirePort keeps building on bath fronts. With every update, it aligns better with how we actually work."

Adapting to Specific Needs

As VolkerWessels' structure required a unique approach, HirePort's flexibility proved crucial: "Yes, we now work with our talent partners like Brunel across various instances within our group," Max acknowledges. "But the trade-off is worth it - each business unit has visibility into their own agency relationships and performance. That’s very valuable to us so we can optimize for speed and spend." The white-label integration was particularly important: "You go from an external link to an integration in the system. That's very intuitive. There aren't too many bells and whistles, which is exactly what we needed."

Looking Ahead

With the new efficiencies in place, VolkerWessels is now focusing on:

  • Allowing individual business units to optimize their own agency relationships

  • Gathering more detailed performance metrics now that the foundation is in place

Max's approach is pragmatic: "When it runs, it runs. Then I mainly leave it to the operating companies themselves."

Conclusion

By implementing HirePort alongside Recruitee, VolkerWessels transformed how they manage recruitment across 55 businesses and 50+ agencies. The solution balanced the need for centralized efficiency with decentralized autonomy.

"I would certainly recommend it," Max concludes. "The system looks great and works easily. It's very intuitive - exactly what you need when you're not one company of 9,000, but rather 55 slightly larger SME companies. HirePort makes agency management as simple as internal recruitment, and that's exactly what we needed."

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