For leaders in talent acquisition, ATS cost isn’t just about the upfront price tag; it’s about the time, money, and talent you lose when your system can’t keep up.

Think about this: if your top recruiter spends half their day wrestling with manual data entry instead of building relationships with top candidates, it’s not just their productivity that suffers—your entire hiring strategy does. 

And when candidates drop out because of a slow, clunky process? Your competition wins.

In this blog, we’ll uncover the hidden inefficiencies of a poor ATS, explore how it impacts your talent acquisition strategy, and outline why upgrading to a modern solution delivers measurable ROI. 

Because modern hiring teams deserve modern tools—ones that boost recruiter productivity, improve hiring efficiency, and position your company to attract the best talent.

Identifying hiring inefficiencies: How outdated systems drain resources

Outdated technology can add unnecessary friction, leading to lost time, wasted resources, and frustrated teams. Here’s where the inefficiencies show up:

1. Manual tasks slow recruiters down

Recruiters spend hours each week manually entering data, sorting resumes, and updating candidate statuses in systems that lack automation. 

Instead of focusing on high-impact activities like candidate sourcing, engagement, and interviews, they’re bogged down by administrative work.

According to a report by Capterra, 94% of recruiters say ATS automation has improved their hiring process, yet many older systems still require significant manual intervention. 

If a recruiter spends 30-40% of their time on administrative tasks, nearly two full workdays are lost weekly.

2. Poor user experience frustrates everyone

Subpar systems aren’t just slow—they’re often hard to navigate. Clunky interfaces, outdated workflows, and a lack of intuitive design make even simple tasks unnecessarily complicated.

Hiring managers who depend on the ATS tools to collaborate with recruiters often avoid using them entirely. This disconnect creates miscommunication, slows down decision-making, and delays time-to-hire.

And candidates suffer from this slowdown, too. 

When your ATS can’t automate status updates or streamline communication, candidates are left in the dark, leading to poor candidate experiences.

3. Reporting limitations create blind spots

Without robust reporting and analytics, understanding your hiring performance becomes guesswork. An outdated ATS often lacks real-time data, customizable dashboards, or the ability to integrate with other hiring tools.

As a result, talent leaders struggle to answer critical questions:

• How long is it taking us to fill roles?
• Where are our bottlenecks?
• Which sources are delivering the highest-quality candidates?

A lack of visibility into key recruiting metrics means missed opportunities to optimize workflows, reduce costs, and make smarter decisions.

4. Integration issues add unnecessary complexity

Modern recruiting relies on various tools—sourcing platforms, assessment tools, and communication channels. 

But when an ATS lacks integrations with these systems, recruiters end up jumping between platforms, re-entering data, and losing valuable time.

For example, a recruiter might source a candidate through LinkedIn, manually upload their resume into the ATS, and then log updates separately in a spreadsheet. 

In fact, 37% of companies require recruiters to use 6 to 10 different HR tools.

These fragmented workflows create errors, inefficiencies, and a disjointed hiring process. 

The inefficiencies caused by a poor ATS might not show up as line items in your budget, but they have a tangible impact, including:

• Lost recruiter productivity
• Increased time-to-hire
• Poor candidate experience, leading to higher drop-off rates
• Higher turnover among recruiters and hiring managers

How ATS costs can hinder recruiter productivity and talent acquisition

When outdated tools slow everything down, you miss out on top candidates, strain your recruiters, and risk falling behind competitors in the race for talent. 

Here’s how poor ROI of recruiting software directly hampers your talent acquisition efforts:

1. Losing top candidates to faster competitors

Top candidates are in high demand. If your hiring process is slow or disjointed due to an outdated ATS, you risk losing talent to companies that move faster. 

A lack of automation means more manual tasks for recruiters, longer decision cycles, and delays in extending offers—all while competitors are snapping up the best candidates.

Job seekers are known to lose interest in a role if the hiring process drags on for too long. 

And 62% of candidates have even stated they prefer an automated system that manages the interview process rather than lengthy back-and-forth communication.

Candidates who experience a faster, more seamless process elsewhere are far more likely to choose other employers.

2. Poor candidate experience damages your brand

A clunky ATS creates a frustrating, impersonal experience for candidates. 

Long applications, repetitive data entry, and a lack of communication leave job seekers feeling undervalued. But the truth is, your hiring processes should be as smooth as your company's products and/or services.

Research shows that 52% of job seekers have declined a job offer due to poor candidate experience (which includes slow processes).

The impact goes beyond just losing individual candidates. 

Negative experiences spread quickly through online reviews and word of mouth, damaging your employer brand. A strong brand attracts top-tier talent, while a poor reputation makes it even harder to fill roles in the future.

3. Recruiter burnout and turnover rise

Recruiters are at the heart of any hiring process, but their productivity and morale suffer when they’re burdened with slow, outdated tools. 

An outdated ATS means more manual work, constant troubleshooting, and time spent on repetitive tasks instead of building meaningful relationships with candidates.

This leads to more burned-out recruiters who feel unsupported and undervalued. 

And high turnover in your recruiting team isn’t just disruptive—it’s expensive.

Replacing a recruiter costs both time and money, while your hiring pipeline takes a hit.

4. Lower hiring efficiency leads to higher costs

Without the right tools, recruiters spend more time sourcing candidates, screening resumes, and scheduling interviews manually.

The longer it takes to fill roles, the more resources your team expends, and the more significant the impact on your organization’s bottom line. 

Vacant roles cost money, too—whether through lost productivity, missed business opportunities, or overburdened teams picking up the slack.

For example, a delayed hire for a high-priority or revenue-generating role, like sales, can lead to tens of thousands of dollars in missed opportunities. 

Plus, if your ATS slows things down, these costs accumulate quickly.

Investing in a modern ATS like Kula: The ROI and competitive edge

Modern recruiting teams need tools that do more than just track candidates—they need systems that drive hiring efficiency, centralize workflows, and enable smarter hiring decisions. 

Investing in a modern applicant tracking system (ATS) like Kula is not just about reducing the applicant tracking system cost; it aims to maximize the return on every hire and staying ahead in a competitive talent market.

Here’s how you can benefit from an applicant tracking system that actually delivers:

1. Time saved = recruiter productivity gained

A subpar ATS forces recruiters to waste time on manual tasks like job postings, resume screening, and interview scheduling. 

Kula automates these processes so recruiters can focus on what truly matters: building relationships with top candidates.

Kula helps save time through:

• One-click job distribution: Publish job postings across 100+ job boards instantly.
• AI-driven resume screening: Kula’s AI scoring identifies top candidates in record time, enabling faster decision-making.
• Effortless scheduling: Kula balances interviewer workloads and aligns candidate availability in real-time—no back-and-forth emails required.

AI-driven automation can boost productivity by up to 40%, mainly by removing repetitive tasks from employees’ responsibilities.

And this is exactly where Kula excels. 

From summarizing interview highlights to AI-enhanced candidate scoring, recruiters can identify top talent in seconds instead of hours—minus the frustration of slow tech. 

2. Improved candidate experience enhances your employer brand

Employer branding isn’t just a recruiter’s responsibility. 

Hiring teams can rely on intelligent recruiting software to deliver that experience with intuitive features like personalized communication and streamlined interview workflows.

Here’s how Kula helps with employer branding:

• Hyper-personalized outreach sequences: Scale your candidate outreach with AI-personalized messaging while ensuring each candidate feels valued with tailored, role-specific communication.
• Branded career sites: Kula enables you to create stunning, branded career pages without developer support—helping your company’s values shine.
• Faster offers: Once you identify top talent, Kula allows you to send offer letters through DocuSign within the platform—speeding up the process and securing candidates quickly.

But why does this matter?

Everything from how you communicate with your candidates to your career site’s navigation reflects on your employer brand. 

One minor slip-up and your candidate can be left with a sour taste. That’s why Kula makes hiring smooth and stress-free—not just for your talent team but for candidates who deserve an experience they’ll enjoy.

3. Data-driven decisions drive hiring efficiency 

Unlike older systems that leave you in the dark, Kula provides actionable insights that help you refine your hiring process. 

With real-time data and AI-driven recommendations, you can identify bottlenecks, improve conversion rates, and make smarter hiring decisions.

• Customizable interview plans: Kula lets you tailor assessments, interviews, and communications for every job—ensuring you hire the right fit.
• AI notetaker and summaries: Quickly summarize interview transcripts and get key hiring insights with Kula's AI sidekick for instant, accurate feedback. 
• Integrated reporting: Track key metrics like time-to-hire, source effectiveness, and candidate drop-off rates to optimize your strategy.

Companies that adopt data-driven recruitment practices reduce the number of bad hires by 30%. 

Instead of hiring through guesswork or gut feelings, Kula’s hiring solution provides you with the candidate data you need right at your fingertips. 

No more switching tabs or shuffling through sheets. Just pull up insights you need instantly and make informed hiring decisions.

4. Lower costs, higher ROI

When evaluating ATS pricing, looking beyond the initial cost and focusing on the return on investment is important. 

The cost of an applicant tracking system can range from hundreds of dollars to even thousands. 

But even if you’ve saved a few bucks by opting for an inexpensive ATS, it might cost you in the long run. 

Due to poor ROI of a recruiting software you’ll witness: 

• A high time-to-hire rate
• Too much time spent on manual, repetitive tasks
• Low offer acceptance rate or high application drop-off rate
• Low-quality hires
• And more

A high-value ATS like Kula can lower costs in the long run by enabling smarter workflows and minimizing hidden inefficiencies that often go unnoticed. 

For instance, Kula’s advanced analytics help you identify exactly where time and resources are being wasted in your hiring process. 

By surfacing insights like candidate drop-off points, interview bottlenecks, and underperforming sourcing channels, Kula allows you to optimize every step, reducing unnecessary spending and improving overall efficiency.

Another way to maximize your ATS is by opting for a system with strong integrations. 

Kula reduces reliance on multiple disconnected tools, which can drive up costs through overlapping subscriptions and integration headaches. 

With everything from candidate screening and interviewing to feedback collection centralized in one platform, you can eliminate redundant systems and reduce tool subscriptions. 

The bottom line: Kula helps you hire smarter, faster, and better

The hidden costs of a subpar ATS extend far beyond recruiter frustration or candidate drop-offs—they impact the very foundation of your hiring strategy. 

Sluggish processes, missed opportunities with top candidates, and mounting inefficiencies quietly drain resources and limit your ability to compete for the best talent. 

This isn’t just an operational challenge—it’s a business risk that directly affects growth, productivity, and retention.

To meet today’s hiring demands and future-proof your talent strategy, you need tools that do more than just manage workflows. 

You need a solution that eliminates bottlenecks, surfaces actionable insights, and aligns hiring outcomes with organizational goals.

That’s why forward-thinking teams turn to modern platforms like Kula. 

By automating repetitive tasks, providing data-driven hiring insights, and enhancing the candidate experience, Kula empowers your recruiters to operate strategically—saving time, reducing costs, and improving the quality of hires. 

The cost of maintaining outdated tools far outweighs the investment in a modern system. 

ROI goes far beyond the platform's cost when you look at the potential return on investment with an ATS like Kula. 

It’s about significantly reducing time-to-hire, bringing in higher-quality candidates, increasing recruiter productivity, and delivering a candidate experience that truly stands out.