Traditional candidate sourcing means finding, vetting, and onboarding a new person from scratch. Staff exchange means using a worker another agency has already vetted, who simply doesn't have a shift right now. They solve different problems, and knowing which one you actually need saves time.
What sourcing is good for
Sourcing makes sense when you need a specific, ongoing skill set your current network doesn't cover, or when you're building long-term capacity in a new specialism. It's slower — advertising, screening, compliance checks, references — but it grows your own pool of workers for the future.
What staff exchange is good for
Exchange makes sense when the need is immediate: a shift tomorrow, a gap this week, a client who can't wait for a fresh recruitment cycle. Since the worker is already vetted by another agency, most of the slow part of sourcing is already done — the exchange is really just a matching and terms conversation, not a recruitment process.
The real difference is speed vs ownership
Sourcing builds an asset you own long-term. Exchange borrows capacity you don't own, to solve a problem you have right now. Neither replaces the other — most agencies need both, depending on whether the gap is permanent or temporary.
A common mistake
Some agencies try to source for every gap, even short-notice ones, because sourcing is the process they know. That usually means the shift stays unfilled while sourcing catches up — exactly the scenario exchange exists for. Conversely, using exchange as a substitute for building a real specialist pool long-term just means paying an ongoing "borrowing" cost instead of investing once in recruitment.
How Meet Resources fits in
Meet Resources is built for the exchange side of this equation — agencies posting shifts they can't fill and workers they have spare, matched against other agencies' needs, with compliance already visible. It doesn't replace your own sourcing and recruitment process; it exists for the gaps that sourcing is too slow to solve.
See how staff exchange works to check whether it fits your immediate gaps.