iLABS, a prominent contract manufacturer specializing in personal care and skincare products, has undergone a transformative overhaul of its talent acquisition strategy, leveraging the Workable Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to achieve remarkable efficiencies and bolster its hiring capacity. This strategic shift has not only streamlined recruitment operations but has also positioned the Northern New Jersey-based company for sustained growth in a highly competitive market, all while significantly reducing operational costs and enhancing the candidate experience.
The Challenge: Navigating a Complex Talent Landscape
Operating as the largest entity within a cluster of affiliated companies, iLABS employs approximately 170 individuals, requiring a diverse array of specialized talent. The company’s hiring needs span an unusually broad spectrum of disciplines, from hands-on roles like compounders and process engineers to highly technical positions such as chemists, quality assurance professionals, UI/UX designers, IT specialists, and finance experts. These varied requirements often emerge simultaneously across multiple entities, presenting a formidable challenge for any talent acquisition function. The manufacturing sector, particularly in specialized niches like personal care, frequently grapples with talent shortages, demanding robust and agile recruitment processes to secure skilled professionals.
Before its partnership with Workable, iLABS faced significant bottlenecks in its recruitment efforts. The system in place was largely reactive, slow, and critically, entirely dependent on a single individual. This lack of a robust, scalable platform meant that the company’s ability to attract and secure top talent was inherently limited, often lagging behind the rapid pace of a growing manufacturing operation. The strategic imperative for iLABS was clear: modernize its talent acquisition function to support its ambitious growth trajectory and ensure a steady pipeline of qualified candidates for its specialized roles.
A History of Hurdles: The Pre-Workable Era
For an extended period, iLABS relied solely on a dedicated in-house recruiter to manage all talent acquisition responsibilities. While this individual undoubtedly worked diligently, the absence of a comprehensive, supportive platform meant that the entire burden of hiring fell squarely on one person. This setup inevitably led to inefficiencies, delays, and a reactive approach to recruitment, rather than a proactive, strategic one. The company’s inability to supplement its pipeline with external agencies further exacerbated the issue, placing an unsustainable demand on a single recruiter without the necessary tools or channel diversity to keep pace with the organization’s evolving needs.
A pivotal moment in iLABS’ journey came with an attempt to modernize through the implementation of Greenhouse, another prominent ATS. However, this initiative proved to be a protracted and ultimately unsuccessful endeavor. The implementation process consumed nearly the full length of the software contract, with the system only becoming operational just as the contract was set to expire. This costly and time-consuming experience highlighted the critical need for a solution that was not only powerful but also user-friendly and quick to deploy, particularly for a lean HR team. Francesca Gonzalez, HR Coordinator at iLABS, recounted the frustrations of this period, noting, "We had an in-house recruiter and we weren’t utilizing outside agencies either. It was mostly just on this one person, which made things lag a little bit instead of being as fast as we would hope, especially in our industry." This statement underscores the operational friction and lost opportunities that stemmed from an inadequate and cumbersome recruitment infrastructure. The lag in hiring not only delayed critical team build-outs but also potentially impacted project timelines and overall business agility in a fast-moving market.
The Strategic Pivot: Why Workable?
Displeased with the prior experience, iLABS leadership recognized the urgent need for a new talent acquisition platform that could meet several key criteria. The chosen solution had to be:
- Operable by a lean HR team: Requiring minimal extensive training and allowing existing personnel to manage the function effectively.
- Versatile: Capable of handling a wide range of roles across multiple affiliated entities.
- Expeditious: Enabling quick turnaround times for job postings, candidate screening, and hiring.
Workable emerged as the clear frontrunner, aligning perfectly with all three of iLABS’ strategic requirements. Two years into the partnership, the results speak for themselves. The same lean HR team, now empowered by Workable, is managing a significantly higher volume of roles, a larger candidate pool, and greater complexity than the previous structure could ever support. Crucially, this enhanced capability has been achieved at a fraction of the cost associated with the prior, less efficient model. The ease of implementation and intuitive interface of Workable were critical factors in its rapid and successful adoption, contrasting sharply with the previous challenging rollout.
Quantifiable Transformation: Key Results and Business Impact
The shift to Workable has yielded tangible, measurable improvements across several critical recruitment metrics, directly translating into substantial business impact for iLABS.
-
Recruiter Efficiency: ~5 hours saved per week through automation. Francesca Gonzalez estimates that Workable saves her approximately five hours per week, time previously lost to manual administrative tasks such as drafting and sending emails, copying templates, tracking down hiring manager responses, and re-entering candidate information. This significant time recovery allows her and her colleagues to redirect their efforts towards more strategic activities, primarily enhanced candidate engagement. Instead of being bogged down by repetitive paperwork, the HR team can now focus on building relationships, conducting more in-depth interviews, and providing a more personalized experience, which is crucial for attracting top talent in specialized fields. This efficiency gain not only boosts productivity but also reduces the potential for human error inherent in manual processes.
-
Hiring Capacity: One coordinator managing many concurrent open roles. With Workable, iLABS has demonstrated an impressive increase in its hiring capacity. Francesca Gonzalez, as the primary HR Coordinator, can effectively manage the full recruiting lifecycle for iLABS and its affiliated companies largely on her own. At peak times, she has successfully overseen up to eight concurrent open roles, spanning the full spectrum from entry-level manufacturing positions to senior technical searches. This unprecedented level of concurrent management, without describing the workload as overwhelming, signifies that the lean HR team can now operate at full hiring velocity without the need for additional headcount, representing substantial cost savings and optimized resource allocation. This agility allows iLABS to scale its workforce in response to market demands without the lag traditionally associated with expanding recruitment functions.
-
Application Reach: 300+ applicants on a single role via multi-board distribution. Workable’s robust multi-board distribution capabilities have dramatically expanded iLABS’ application reach. For general roles, the platform consistently delivers high candidate volume at scale. A recent quality assurance supervisor position, for example, attracted over 300 applicants, demonstrating the system’s ability to cast a wide net. For more specialized positions, such as a food scientist with a nutraceutical background, Workable effectively surfaces a targeted pool of qualified candidates. This high volume, combined with intelligent targeting, ensures that iLABS has a robust pipeline for both general and competitive positions. The ability to reach a broad yet relevant audience is critical in today’s competitive talent market, especially for roles requiring specific industry experience or technical skills.
-
Speed to Fill: Senior-level role filled within 2 months. The efficiency gains have directly translated into a faster speed to fill, even for specialized and hard-to-find positions. A senior product manager search, managed through Workable, was successfully filled within two months. This competitive placement speed is a significant advantage, particularly for senior-level roles where extended vacancies can lead to project delays, increased workload for existing staff, and potential loss of market momentum. Industry benchmarks often cite significantly longer times-to-fill for specialized senior positions, making iLABS’ achievement a testament to Workable’s effectiveness in accelerating the recruitment cycle.
-
Candidate Experience: Automated rejection notifications at every pipeline stage. A critical, yet often overlooked, aspect of recruitment is the candidate experience. Prior to Workable, consistent communication with all applicants, especially those who did not advance, was challenging. Now, every applicant receives a timely response regardless of the outcome, thanks to automated rejection notifications configured by Francesca Gonzalez herself. This consistent and professional communication not only enhances iLABS’ employer brand but also fosters goodwill among candidates, some of whom may be suitable for future roles or could refer others. In an era where employer brand significantly impacts talent attraction, this commitment to transparent communication is a distinct competitive advantage.
Deep Dive into Workable’s Impact: Operational Streamlining
Francesca Gonzalez stands at the forefront of this operational transformation, effectively managing the full recruiting lifecycle for iLABS. Her ability to juggle numerous roles simultaneously underscores the profound impact of Workable’s design and automation capabilities.
Francesca Gonzalez: The Architect of Efficiency
Gonzalez describes Workable as making her life "more streamlined," a testament to its intuitive design and powerful features. Once a role receives internal approval, it goes live on Workable. A key aspect of her process involves onboarding relevant hiring managers with brief orientations tailored to their individual schedules and preferred levels of involvement. This flexibility is crucial; some managers engage daily, reviewing candidates and leaving real-time comments directly within the platform, while others prefer to check in on Gonzalez’s notes as needed. Workable accommodates both styles seamlessly, eliminating the need for manual differentiation or constant follow-ups from Gonzalez, allowing her to focus on the strategic aspects of candidate management rather than administrative coordination.
Automated Workflows: The Backbone of Speed
The efficiency gains Gonzalez experiences are not marginal. Approximately 70 percent of her working day is dedicated to recruiting, making any automation a critical boon. The automation workflows she relies on most include stage-based email triggers, which ensure timely communication, and self-scheduling links that sync directly to her calendar, eliminating the cumbersome back-and-forth typically associated with interview coordination. Her ability to configure a rejection notification workflow herself further exemplifies the platform’s user-friendliness and customization potential. "I love the automation features. I can just send the email right away. My availability is already set. I don’t have to waste time managing my schedule. It links directly to my calendar," she states, highlighting the direct impact on her daily productivity.
Targeted Outreach and Volume Management
Workable’s distribution network is designed for both breadth and precision. For high-volume general roles, such as the quality assurance supervisor position that attracted over 300 applicants, the platform delivers sheer scale. Conversely, for highly specialized searches, like a food scientist requiring a nutraceutical background, Workable effectively surfaces a more targeted pool of candidates. Gonzalez leverages Workable’s filtering tools and automatic disqualification questions to significantly reduce the manual review of unqualified applicants, a feature particularly vital for an on-site company receiving applications from outside its immediate geographic region. This intelligent screening saves immense time and ensures that her focus remains on viable candidates.
Furthermore, for senior-level searches that require external agency support, Gonzalez employs a clever strategy: creating a duplicate job posting within Workable—one public-facing and one internal. This allows her to consolidate all agency submissions and direct applications into a single, unified system, simplifying tracking and management. This streamlined approach was instrumental in filling a senior product manager search within a swift two-month timeframe, demonstrating Workable’s versatility in managing complex recruitment scenarios involving multiple sourcing channels.
Seamless Integration: The Background Check Advantage
Among all the features, the integrated background check functionality stands out as a particular favorite for Gonzalez. The ability to initiate checks, monitor their status, and download results directly into a candidate’s confidential profile eliminates the need for a separate platform entirely. For a coordinator managing multiple active pipelines simultaneously, removing this constant "context switch" — jumping between different systems and logins — compounds into meaningful time savings over the course of a week. "Requesting background checks through Workable is literally my favorite thing. I love that it goes straight to their profile. I love not having to have another website and another login. It saves me so much time," she enthusiastically shares, underscoring the value of a truly integrated system.
Cultivating a Positive Candidate Journey
Francesca Gonzalez’s own experience as an applicant to iLABS, which occurred through Workable, profoundly influenced her approach to candidate experience. She recalls the ease of self-scheduling her phone screen, devoid of the typical back-and-forth coordination often frustrating for candidates. This positive personal experience directly shaped how she built out the candidate-facing side of iLABS’ recruitment process.
Today, a cornerstone of iLABS’ enhanced candidate experience is the automated rejection notification system. Prior to Workable, consistent communication with all applicants, especially those who did not advance, was a significant challenge. Now, Gonzalez has personally configured and activated a workflow ensuring that every applicant who does not advance receives an automated rejection notification. This happens at every pipeline stage, without exception. This commitment to transparent and timely communication not only improves iLABS’ employer brand but also fosters goodwill among candidates, providing them closure and maintaining a positive perception of the company, regardless of the hiring outcome. "I was able to implement the automation workflow so that any time a candidate got rejected at any stage, they got that email notification pushed out. At least they know. ‘Am I still considered? Am I not?’ That communication is actually happening now," she explains, highlighting the human impact of these automated processes. This attention to detail reflects a broader understanding of how talent acquisition practices influence a company’s reputation and ability to attract future talent.
Universal Adoption and Organizational Alignment
One of Workable’s most impressive achievements at iLABS is its widespread adoption across the organization, spanning a diverse cohort of hiring managers from first-time directors to seasoned executives in their sixties. Regardless of their technological proficiency or previous experience with ATS systems, adoption has been consistently high. The platform’s intuitive design requires minimal instruction, which translates directly into less time spent by Gonzalez explaining the tool and more time dedicated to managing the actual recruitment process.
This universal adoption has fostered a shared organizational standard for recruitment. Instead of needing to re-explain workflows and expectations each time a new role opens, the entire team now operates from a common baseline. This shared understanding leads to established expectations on both sides, making the collaboration between HR and hiring managers smoother and more efficient. It ensures consistency in the application of recruitment policies and processes across all departments. "I am fairly confident it’s probably one of the best ATS systems out there. I speak so highly of it every time I talk to my hiring managers," Gonzalez asserts, underscoring the platform’s ease of use and the positive feedback it receives internally. This internal advocacy is a strong indicator of Workable’s successful integration into iLABS’ operational fabric.
Strategic Implications and Future Outlook
Two years into their partnership with Workable, iLABS possesses a recruitment function that is measurably faster, significantly better organized, and demonstrably more cost-effective than anything the previous structure supported. The ability for a single coordinator to manage up to eight open roles simultaneously, recover approximately five hours per week through automation, and deliver a candidate experience that rivals organizations with far larger recruiting teams is a testament to the power of strategic HR technology adoption.
The most significant return on investment, in Francesca Gonzalez’s astute assessment, is the elimination of the dedicated in-house recruiter position. The workload associated with this role has been effectively absorbed by the existing HR team, powerfully supported by Workable, without any decline in output or quality. This is not merely an operational improvement; it represents a profound structural advantage for iLABS. For a growing contract manufacturer competing for specialized talent in a densely populated regional market like Northern New Jersey, having an agile, efficient, and cost-effective talent acquisition engine is paramount. It allows the company to rapidly scale its workforce to meet production demands, innovate new products, and maintain its competitive edge without the overheads traditionally associated with aggressive hiring.
The success story of iLABS and Workable serves as a compelling case study for other manufacturing companies and specialized industries. It demonstrates how investing in the right HR technology can transform talent acquisition from a reactive bottleneck into a strategic enabler of business growth. By empowering its lean HR team with intuitive, powerful tools, iLABS has not only optimized its hiring process but has also solidified its foundation for sustained expansion and innovation in the dynamic personal care and skincare market. The future for iLABS, armed with its streamlined and effective recruitment capabilities, appears poised for continued success in attracting and retaining the specialized talent essential for its industry leadership.
