Time to fill measures how long it takes a staffing agency to move from a defined client request to a defined fill event.
For temporary and healthcare staffing, that interval may be measured in hours rather than days. A useful metric therefore needs precise start and end events, not just a dashboard label.
What is time to fill in staffing?
Time to fill is the elapsed time between demand entering the agency workflow and that demand reaching the agency's chosen filled state.
For one request:
Time to fill = fill timestamp − request timestamp
For a group of filled requests:
Average time to fill = total elapsed time for filled requests ÷ number of filled requests
The calculation should use comparable units—hours or days—and one definition across the reporting group.
Choose start and end events first
The formula only becomes meaningful after the agency documents its events.
| Boundary | Possible event | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Start | Client submits a valid request | How long the agency takes from demand receipt. |
| Start | Recruiter accepts the request | How long delivery takes after internal triage. |
| End | Worker is booked | How quickly the agency identifies and assigns supply. |
| End | Worker confirms | How quickly the booking becomes more reliable. |
| End | Client approves a submission | How long the complete agency-and-client decision takes. |
| End | Worker starts | How long demand takes to become delivered work. |
For urgent shifts, “request received to worker confirmed” may be the clearest operational definition. For a longer temporary assignment, “approved requisition to accepted placement” may fit better.
Do not compare two teams when one stops the clock at submission and the other stops it at client approval.
Worked time-to-fill example
Five shifts are filled in 3, 5, 7, 9, and 26 hours.
Average = (3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 26) ÷ 5 = 10 hours
The median is the middle result after sorting the values:
Median = 7 hours
The average shows the total time burden across the group. The median shows the typical middle result and is less affected by the 26-hour outlier. A practical dashboard can show both.
Do not let filled work hide open demand
Average and median time to fill usually include only requests that reached the end event. That means unfilled demand can disappear from the calculation.
Pair time to fill with:
- current open-request age;
- percentage of requests still open after an internal service interval;
- fill rate;
- client, worker, and agency cancellations; and
- no-shows or failed starts.
If the team fills easy shifts quickly but leaves hard shifts open, the average may improve while the client experience gets worse.
Time to fill is not always time to hire
These labels are often used differently across recruitment teams. Document the distinction used by your agency.
- Time to fill usually starts with a client or job requirement and ends with a defined fill event.
- Time to hire often starts with a candidate event, such as application or first contact, and ends when that candidate accepts or starts.
- Time to submit covers the narrower interval from request receipt to sending a suitable candidate or worker to the client.
- Response time measures how quickly the agency acknowledges or begins work on demand.
Temporary staffing may need all four because worker supply, client decisions, and placement timing move independently.
Segment the result around operating decisions
Review time to fill by:
- role, profession, or Talent Pool;
- client and worksite;
- request lead time;
- shift type and start time;
- new versus recurring client demand;
- branch, desk, or delivery team; and
- request outcome, including filled, cancelled, or still open.
A healthcare weekend shift requested two hours before start should not set the baseline for an office assignment requested three weeks ahead.
Avoid publishing a universal “good time to fill.” The useful target depends on the type of demand, measurement boundary, client commitment, market, and availability of suitable workers.
Diagnose the delay before changing recruiter targets
Split the total interval into stages:
- request received to recruiter review;
- review to first suitable invitation or submission;
- invitation to worker response;
- submission to client response;
- approval to worker confirmation; and
- confirmation to start.
This shows whether the constraint is internal triage, worker readiness, availability, communication, client response, or another handoff. A raw recruiter leaderboard cannot explain those differences.
The healthcare candidate onboarding guide explains how unclear registration and review steps can delay access to ready supply.
Where Scissors fits
Scissors supports jobs, applicant screening, Talent Pool eligibility, worker availability, job invitations, scheduling, client workflows, timesheets, approvals, and payroll-ready exports. Keeping those events connected can help agencies define timestamps and investigate delays.
Scissors does not set service commitments, automatically approve workers, or replace payroll systems. Recruiters and authorised staff remain responsible for suitability, credential, client, and placement decisions.
For the wider operating view, use the recruitment KPI dashboard template. Healthcare agencies can connect the metric to their full workflow in the healthcare staffing software guide.
Time-to-fill FAQs
How do staffing agencies calculate time to fill?
Subtract the documented request timestamp from the documented fill timestamp for each filled demand unit. Then report the values individually or calculate a consistent average and median.
Should time to fill include unfilled jobs?
Unfilled jobs do not yet have an end timestamp, so they cannot enter a completed average. Show their current age and the open-demand count beside the completed measure.
Is time to fill the same as time to hire?
Not necessarily. Time to fill commonly follows client demand; time to hire commonly follows a candidate journey. Define the start and end events used by your agency.