Most healthcare staffing agencies have more opportunity in their ATS right now than they're pulling from any job board.
They just aren't reaching it.
The industry average for database engagement is 1.5%. That means for every 100 candidates in your system, you're actively working with one or two of them.
The agencies we work with double that. Some triple it.
Here's how.
Why Most Databases Sit Dormant
It's not that agencies don't care about their existing data. It's that their tools aren't built to activate it.
Most ATS platforms are designed to store candidates, not surface them. Recruiters open the search bar, run a keyword query, get inconsistent results, and give up. They go back to job boards.
The cycle repeats. New leads come in. Old candidates stay buried.
Over time, the database grows. Engagement doesn't.
This isn't a people problem. It's a workflow problem.
What Doubling Engagement Actually Means
Going from 1.5% to 3% engagement doesn't sound dramatic. But the math changes everything.
An agency with 40,000 candidates in their ATS at 1.5% engagement has about 600 active candidate conversations happening at any given time.
At 3%, that's 1,200.
At 6%, that's 2,400.
Same database. The difference is how much of it is being worked.
More active conversations means more placements. More placements from existing data means lower cost per fill. Lower cost per fill means better margins without headcount growth.
That's the compounding effect of database activation.
The Shift That Makes It Possible
The agencies doubling their engagement have made one operational change:
Their recruiters don't search the database. The database comes to them.
Instead of running queries and hoping for a match, recruiters start each day with a prioritized list of candidates who fit current open roles. The system does the matching. The recruiter makes the call.
It's a small change in workflow. The output is completely different.
Recruiters move faster because they're not hunting. They're working. And because the matches are precise, candidate conversations are warmer. Conversion rates improve.
What we typically see: agencies that make this shift start pulling placements from their database within the first 30 days.
How Ember Makes This Happen
Ember was built specifically for healthcare staffing agencies who want to get more out of the data they already have.
We connect directly to your ATS, analyze your candidate pool against your open roles, and surface the right matches automatically. No new sourcing required. No extra headcount.
Agencies using Ember consistently reach 3-6% database engagement. That's more than double the industry average.
The candidates are already in your system. Ember helps you reach them.
That's where things change.
Book a demo to see what doubling your engagement looks like for your agency