From 62% to 97%: How One Agency Transformed Their Shift Fill Rate in 90 Days

In June 2025, Precision Workforce Solutions — a 180-person industrial staffing agency based in Indianapolis — was facing an existential crisis. Their shift fill rate had dropped to 62%, their two largest manufacturing clients had issued formal warnings about SLA violations, and three coordinators had quit in the span of eight weeks.

"We were in a death spiral," says Marcus Webb, VP of Operations. "Low fill rates made clients unhappy. Unhappy clients meant more pressure on coordinators. More pressure meant coordinator turnover. And every time a coordinator left, fill rates dropped further because the replacement didn't know the workers or the client sites."

The Situation: By the Numbers

Before we get into what changed, here's where Precision stood in June 2025:

• Active workers: 1,400 across 9 client sites (3 automotive plants, 2 food processing, 4 warehouses)
• Weekly shifts: ~2,100
• Weekly call-outs: ~480 (23% rate — industry average)
• Fill rate on call-outs: 62%
• Average time to fill: 41 minutes
• Coordinator team: 11 people (down from 14 after resignations)
• After-hours fill rate: 38%

The 62% fill rate meant roughly 180 shifts per week were going unfilled. At an average billing rate of $26/hour for 8-hour shifts, that was $37,440 in lost revenue every single week — nearly $2M annually.

Week 1-2: The Diagnostic

Precision's team mapped out exactly where shifts were being lost. The breakdown was revealing:

• 34% of unfilled shifts: No coordinator available to make calls (after-hours, weekends)
• 28%: Workers didn't answer (sequential calling, averaged 6.2 calls to get one pickup)
• 19%: Filled too slowly — client had already made other arrangements by the time coverage was confirmed
• 12%: No eligible workers with the right certifications available
• 7%: Coordinator error (wrong shift details, contacted ineligible workers, etc.)

The first three categories — 81% of all unfilled shifts — were fundamentally process problems, not people problems. The coordinators weren't failing. The process was failing them.

Week 3-4: Implementation

Precision rolled out MyHR across their three highest-volume client sites first. The setup took four days:

Week 5-8: The Ramp

Within the first two weeks of going live, three things happened that Precision didn't expect:

Workers actually preferred it. Response rates were 3.2x higher via text than the old phone-call process. Several workers specifically told coordinators they appreciated being able to respond to shift offers on their own time rather than being put on the spot during a phone call.

After-hours coverage flipped overnight. The biggest immediate win was weekend and overnight shifts. Previously, Precision had one coordinator working 6 PM - 6 AM Friday through Sunday, trying to cover call-outs solo. With MyHR handling outreach 24/7, the fill rate for after-hours shifts jumped from 38% to 82% in the first month.

Coordinators started doing different work. With 70% fewer phone calls to make, coordinators began spending their time on worker relationships, client site visits, and proactive scheduling — things they'd always wanted to do but never had time for.

Week 9-12: Full Deployment and Results

By week 9, MyHR was running across all 9 client sites. Here's where Precision ended up at 90 days:

• Fill rate: 62% → 97%
• Average fill time: 41 min → 3.8 min
• After-hours fill rate: 38% → 91%
• Weekly lost revenue from unfilled shifts: $37,440 → $4,680
• Coordinator overtime hours: Down 64%
• Worker response rate: 22% → 71%

"The thing that surprised me most wasn't the fill rate improvement — I expected that. It was how much happier our coordinators were. Two people who I thought were about to quit told me they actually enjoy their jobs now. That's worth more than any metric."

— Marcus Webb, VP of Operations, Precision Workforce Solutions

The Client Impact

Both manufacturing clients who had issued SLA warnings formally acknowledged the improvement within 60 days. One expanded their contract by 40 additional weekly shifts. The other extended their agreement by two years without going through the usual RFP process.

"Our clients don't care how we fill the shifts," Marcus says. "They just care that when they need 50 people at 6 AM, 50 people show up. Once we could deliver that consistently, everything else fell into place."