Motion Recruitment Reviews, Alternatives, and More in 2025 for Startups
Dover
August 7, 2025
•
5 mins
Motion Recruitment operates as an IT staffing agency that focuses on tech recruitment across 16 North American cities. They deliver IT talent solutions through four main service areas: contract staffing, direct hire placements, managed solutions, and statement of work projects.
The company targets tech companies of all sizes, from startups to enterprises, focusing on specialized roles in software development, data science, cybersecurity, and product/UX design.
Their team-based recruitment model is designed to handle challenging IT positions that require deep technical knowledge. They assign specialized teams to understand both the technical requirements and cultural fit needed for each role.
If you're trying to understand the broader world of startup recruiting, we've written a detailed guide on startup recruiting guide that covers the different types of recruiting support available to early-stage companies.
Motion Recruitment's core offering revolves around four main service categories that cover all IT staffing needs, as listed below:
Contract staffing service places temporary IT professionals for project-based work or to fill gaps during busy periods.
Direct-hire placements focus on permanent positions where Motion Recruitment handles the entire recruiting process from sourcing to final offer negotiation.
Managed solutions offering outsources your entire recruiting function to their team.
Statement of work service focuses on hiring complete project teams for companies that need an entire development team.
Their consulting arm provides additional services like market analysis, compensation benchmarking, and hiring strategy development for larger clients who need more strategic support.
Motion Recruitment covers several key technical areas including software development (full-stack, frontend, backend), mobile development (iOS, Android, React Native), data roles (engineers, scientists, analysts), infrastructure and DevOps, cybersecurity, and product/UX design.
Motion Recruitment faces several major challenges based on employee reviews and client feedback that directly impact their service quality.
The work culture receives consistently negative reviews, with employees describing it as toxic and management having unrealistic expectations. Multiple reviews on Glassdoor mention that new hires receive minimal training but are expected to deliver stellar performance immediately.
Former employees report "you will do no actual recruiting" despite being hired for recruiting roles, with strict metrics implemented after hiring even when told there were no KPIs during the interview process.
The compensation structure presents another major issue. Starting salaries are reportedly low compared to industry standards, and the commission structure is below average for recruiting agencies.
Upper management is frequently described as out of touch with current market trends, making it difficult for them to stay competitive in rapidly evolving tech markets. This disconnect affects their ability to provide accurate market intelligence to clients.
For startups, this is how it affects your hiring efforts:
Such bureaucratic structure in a recruiting agency means slower decision-making and less flexibility.
The arrogant, top-down leadership approach mentioned in reviews creates communication barriers.
Meetings are described as one-sided and condescending, which has led to talented account executives leaving to join competitors, meaning startups may lose continuity with their recruiting team mid-search.
Their traditional agency fee structure (typically 20-25% of first-year salary) can be prohibitive for cash-strapped startups. Unlike fractional models that charge hourly rates, agencies require large upfront commitments that may not align with startup budgets.
If you're considering alternatives, our articles on fractional recruiting guide and vetting external recruiters provide frameworks for comparing different recruiting models.
Who Should Use Motion Recruitment
Motion Recruitment works best for larger tech companies and enterprises with specific characteristics and needs, such as:
Companies with high-volume IT hiring needs across multiple locations. If you're consistently hiring 10+ technical roles per quarter and have offices in several of their 16 covered cities, their infrastructure can handle that scale effectively.
Enterprises with existing HR departments and recruiting processes. These companies can handle the bureaucratic aspects of working with a large agency and have systems in place to manage multiple recruiting vendors.
Organizations needing specialized expertise in niche technical areas like cybersecurity or data science. Their team-based approach means they can assign experts who understand specific technical requirements.
Companies with traditional corporate cultures that prefer working with well-known, proven agencies often choose Motion Recruitment for the perceived stability and brand recognition.
However, the fit becomes problematic for several types of companies. Startups with limited budgets struggle with their traditional agency fee structure, which typically runs 20-25% of first-year salary per hire.
Early-stage companies needing rapid pivots or strategy changes don't work well with their slower, more bureaucratic decision-making process. Startups often need to adjust job requirements, compensation, or even cancel searches based on changing priorities.
Companies requiring hands-on, personalized attention may be disappointed. With only 43% of employees recommending Motion Recruitment to a friend based on 456 reviews, there are clear satisfaction issues that could affect client service quality.
Startups in their first 1-2 years typically don't have the hiring volume to support working with a large agency. They need more flexible, cost-effective solutions that can scale up or down based on immediate needs.
Companies that value close collaboration and frequent communication may find their model too transactional. The high turnover mentioned in reviews means you might work with different recruiters throughout your engagement.
Best Startup Recruiting Alternatives
Dover (Best Overall)
Dover takes the top spot as the best recruiting solution for startups in 2025 by combining a completely free hiring platform with on-demand recruiting services. Unlike traditional agencies, Dover's core ATS and recruiting tools cost nothing, and their fractional recruiter service operates on a pay-as-you-go model.
Most companies spend around $80/hour for fractional recruiting services, averaging $4k-$7k per hire compared to the $15k-$30k typical agency fees.
Dover's fractional recruiters work part-time or project-based, giving you senior recruiting expertise without full-time costs. They integrate directly with your team, attend your meetings, and adjust strategies based on your evolving needs, a boon for startups whose hiring priorities change rapidly.
The platform includes AI-powered candidate scoring, one-click job board posting to 70+ sites, integrated sourcing tools, and analytics dashboards. Everything works together smoothly, eliminating the need to juggle multiple recruiting tools.
Traditional ATS Competitors
Ashby and Lever represent more traditional recruiting software options, but they come with major cost differences. Ashby ranges from $50 to $150 per user per month, making Dover's free model much more attractive for startups with tight budgets.
These platforms offer strong features but require you to handle recruiting internally or hire additional staff. For startups that need both software and recruiting expertise, Dover's combined approach provides better value.
Solution | Cost Structure | Best For | Key Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
Dover | Free ATS + $80/hr fractional | Startups needing flexibility | Newer in market |
Motion Recruitment | 20-25% of salary | Large enterprises | High cost, inflexible |
Paraform | Variable by recruiter | Companies wanting choice | Quality varies by recruiter |
Ashby | $50-150/user/month | Companies with internal recruiting | Software only, no recruiting help |
For deeper context on fractional recruiting, read our guide on fractional recruiting guide. You can also check out broader startup recruiting trends at YC recruiting directory.
Decision Guidance
The decision between Motion Recruitment and alternatives comes down to four key factors: budget, flexibility needs, growth stage, and hiring volume.
Budget Considerations
Motion Recruitment make sense if you have a huge recruiting budgets and can afford $15k-$30k per hire. Most startups find these costs prohibitive, especially when hiring multiple roles simultaneously.
Fractional recruiting offers a middle ground at $4k-$7k per hire while providing similar expertise levels. The hourly model also means you only pay for active recruiting work, not retainer fees.
Flexibility Requirements
Startups need recruiting partners who can pivot quickly when priorities change. If your company frequently adjusts job requirements, pauses searches, or shifts focus between roles, fractional recruiters provide much more flexibility than traditional agencies.
Large agencies have set up processes that work well for predictable, high-volume hiring but struggle with the rapid changes typical in startup environments.
Growth Stage Assessment
Companies should consider recruiting help once they hit 15+ employees and plan to hire 8-10 more people in the coming months. At this stage, founder-led recruiting becomes unsustainable, but you may not need a full-time internal recruiter yet.
Final Decision Framework: Motion Recruitment vs Dover
Choose Motion Recruitment if you're a well-funded enterprise with consistent, high-volume IT hiring needs and prefer working with proven agencies. You should have dedicated HR staff to manage the relationship and budget flexibility for traditional agency fees.
Choose Dover if you're a startup that needs cost-effective, flexible recruiting solutions with hands-on support. This works best for companies that want recruiting expertise without the overhead of full-time hires or expensive agency commitments.
For additional context on why fractional recruiting works well for startups, read our articles on fractional recruiting benefits and hiring recruiters benefits.
You can also check out more detailed comparisons of fractional recruiting benefits at RemotelyTalents' fractional recruiting guide.
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