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The cost of the wrong hire: How talent pipelining reduces risk

Author

Therese Keohane
Therese Keohane
Published
May 27, 2025
The cost of the wrong hire: How talent pipelining reduces risk
Hiring the wrong person is costly – financially, operationally, and culturally. In life sciences, where roles are tightly linked to patient safety, compliance, and innovation, that impact is even more pronounced.

According to CIPD Ireland, 39% of organisations say the time taken to fill a vacancy has increased over the past year. Many are also seeing higher rates of unsuccessful hires due to talent shortages and poor alignment between candidate skills and role expectations.

LinkedIn Talent Insights highlights how talent shortages across Europe are lengthening hiring cycles and fuelling competition for specialist roles – particularly in highly regulated sectors like biopharma, medtech, and advanced manufacturing.

Meanwhile, research from Oxford Economics and the Centre for Economic and Business Research estimates that replacing a misaligned hire in Western Europe can exceed €30,000 once recruitment, onboarding, and lost productivity are considered.

So why do so many organisations still rely on reactive hiring? And how can they mitigate the risk of an unsuccessful appointment?

One solution gaining traction is Talent Pipelining.

Improved Quality of Hire
With Talent Pipelining, you're not settling for whoever is available. You’re proactively building relationships with the right people, with the right capabilities. According to Forbes, companies with robust pipelines are 2x more likely to improve the quality of hire and reduce time to fill.
 

Faster, More Strategic Hiring
When critical roles open, pipelined candidates are already pre-qualified and engaged – accelerating hiring decisions and reducing the pressure to compromise. LinkedIn’s Global Recruiting Trends report shows these organisations fill roles 42% faster than their peers.
 

Strategic Workforce Planning
In specialised sectors like biopharma and medtech, where critical skills are often in short supply, talent mapping and pipelining supports long-term workforce planning. It allows organisations to anticipate future needs, identify emerging gaps, and build capability ahead of demand.
 

Stronger Retention and Integration Success
By aligning values, skills, and career aspirations ahead of time, Talent Pipelining creates the conditions for a smoother transition, stronger engagement, and long-term retention. According to CareerBuilder, 74% of employers admit to hiring the wrong person, and 41% estimate the cost of a single mis-hire exceeded €25,000. 
 

A poor hiring decision doesn’t just impact the bottom line – it can negatively impact team dynamics, project timelines, and innovation. In life sciences, where talent is tightly linked to regulatory compliance, patient safety, and product delivery – having the right people in the right seats is paramount. 
That’s why more organisations are turning to proactive talent strategies like Talent Mapping and Pipelining. It enables business leaders and HR teams to think beyond the immediate vacancy – building insight, foresight, and resilience into their workforce planning.
As the pace of change accelerates and competition for specialised talent intensifies, having visibility of your talent landscape isn’t just an advantage - it’s essential.
 

Ready to future-proof your workforce? Let’s talk about how Fastnet can help unlock your team’s full potential.

Therese Keohane
Therese Keohane
Director of Operations
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