Hays plc is one of the world’s largest specialist recruitment firms, with operations in 33 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. Founded in 1968 and headquartered in London.
In Australia, Hays has operated for over 50 years, making it one of the country’s longest-established recruitment agencies. It has offices in every major city—Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.
It works with businesses ranging from large ASX-listed enterprises to growing mid-market companies.
This guide breaks down Hays reviews across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide — covering service ratings, pros and cons, and the best alternatives depending on the type of role you need to fill.
Table of Contents
Hays Melbourne Reviews
Hays Melbourne is the Victorian hub of Hays plc. The main office is located at Level 21, 360 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, with a second office at Level 6, 424 St Kilda Road, Melbourne VIC 3004. The Melbourne office covers technology, sales, finance, construction, and human resources for employers across Victoria, handling both permanent and contract recruitment.
Hays Melbourne Services
Hays Melbourne offers permanent recruitment, temporary and contract staffing, executive search, and outsourced workforce management.
Dedicated practice areas include Hays Technology, Hays Sales, Hays Finance, Hays Construction & Property, and Hays Human Resources. Technology and sales mandates are handled by specialist consultants within those practice groups.
What Employers Say: Pros of Using Hays Melbourne Services
Broad coverage for mixed hiring needs. Employers with open roles across multiple functions — technology, finance, HR, construction — can consolidate multiple briefs into a single agency relationship without managing several suppliers.
Salary benchmarking data. Hays publishes well-regarded annual salary guides for Australian markets, giving hiring managers a credible reference point when setting compensation budgets and structuring competitive offers.
Scale for volume hiring. For businesses looking to fill multiple commercial or administrative roles simultaneously, the Melbourne office’s database and consultant headcount support faster volume turnarounds than smaller boutique agencies.
Dedicated practice groups for technology and sales. Specialist consultants who work only within technology or sales hiring handle mandates in those disciplines — rather than generalist staff covering everything.
Global network for cross-border roles. For businesses with international staffing needs, Hays’ 33-country footprint makes coordinating global hiring more practical through a single partner.
Cons of Using Hays Melbourne Services
Undifferentiated shortlists for specialist roles. The volume-first model means shortlists for niche technology or SaaS sales roles often surface candidates who match the job spec on paper but lack the specific execution history or environment fit that makes a hire succeed. Employers typically need to screen significantly more candidates to find the right one.
High consultant turnover disrupts account continuity. Hiring managers frequently report losing their assigned consultant mid-brief, requiring them to re-brief a new contact — adding avoidable time and friction to active searches.
Slow turnaround on active briefs. Multiple client accounts describe extended response times on open mandates, with updates infrequent and email exchanges slow — an issue when hiring timelines are tight.
Limited post-placement support. Support typically drops off once a placement is confirmed, with limited proactive check-ins during the settling-in period — leaving employers to manage early-tenure issues without agency support.
Better suited to generalist than specialist mandates. For technology or SaaS sales roles where quota history, ramp performance, and company-stage fit are the primary hiring criteria, Hays Melbourne’s broad approach is not well-matched to the brief.
Hays Melbourne Ratings
- Google Reviews — Check the current rating for the Melbourne CBD office on Google Maps
- Glassdoor — 3.5 / 5 based on 131 reviews
- Trustpilot — See current Australia-wide rating
Hays Sydney Reviews
Hays Sydney is Hays’ largest Australian base and the national hub for the Hays Technology and Hays Sales practice groups. The main office is at Level 13, 2 Chifley Square, Sydney NSW 2000 (Chifley Tower), with a second office at 6 O’Connell Street, Sydney.
Hays Sydney Services
Permanent recruitment, temporary and contract staffing, executive search, and managed services for employers across Greater Sydney and New South Wales. Services include talent mapping, candidate shortlisting, and workforce planning.
What Employers Say: Pros
Largest candidate pool in Australia. The Sydney office can draw from the deepest available talent pool of any Hays location, giving employers an efficiency advantage for volume and commercial role hiring.
Brand recognition drives inbound candidate flow. Hays’ national profile means both active and passive candidates engage with the brand — useful for roles with broad candidate appeal where reach matters.
Experienced technology practitioner. The Sydney technology team places developers, IT managers, and technology sales professionals across Sydney’s enterprise and scale-up sectors.
Useful for early-career and volume hiring. Employers filling junior commercial, administrative, or graduate roles report efficient placement timelines.
Market intelligence. The annual Hays Salary Guide is widely used by Sydney employers for benchmarking compensation and building competitive offers.
What Employers Say: Cons
Slow process on active briefs. Employers report extended response times and difficulty obtaining updates on open roles, adding days or weeks to searches that could otherwise move quickly.
Consultant churn creates gaps mid-search. Sydney’s competitive internal job market drives higher turnover within Hays, meaning hiring managers regularly find themselves re-briefing a new consultant partway through an active search.
Generalist shortlists for specialist sales roles. For SaaS or technology sales positions where quota history and environment fit are the primary selection criteria, the generalist model produces shortlists that require significantly more interviewing to find the right hire.
Broad advertising reduces shortlist quality. Volume-based advertising of open roles generates high CV flow, but with limited differentiation — increasing screening time rather than reducing it.
Hays Sydney Ratings
- Google Reviews — 4.2 / 5 based on 337 reviews for the Sydney CBD office
- Glassdoor — 3.9 / 5 based on 210 reviews
- Trustpilot
Hays Brisbane Reviews
Hays Brisbane is the Queensland office of Hays plc, located at Level 45, 111 Eagle Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000. A second location operates at Level 2, 17-19 Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Road, Upper Mt Gravatt, QLD 4122, serving southern Brisbane and the Logan corridor.
Hays Brisbane Services
Permanent, temporary, and contract recruitment across technology, sales, finance, construction, engineering, business support, and Queensland’s energy and infrastructure sectors.
Pros
Coverage of Queensland’s mining and resources sector. Employers in or adjacent to Queensland’s resources industry have access to established candidate networks in engineering and mining support, as well as commercial roles.
Efficient for volume and commercial hiring. Businesses filling multiple administrative, operational, or commercial roles simultaneously report reasonable turnaround times from the Brisbane office.
Higher employee satisfaction than in other offices. Brisbane holds a 4.6/5 Glassdoor rating — Hays’ highest rating among Australian cities. A more engaged consultant team tends to translate into more attentive client service.
Cross-state reach for Queensland-based roles. Employers whose Brisbane roles attract interstate candidates benefit from Hays’ national database and multi-city candidate visibility.
Cons
Slower to fill specialist or senior roles. Queensland’s smaller specialist talent pool means longer search timelines for niche technology or senior sales positions compared to Sydney or Melbourne.
Limited passive candidate access for tech sales. The generalist model means Hays Brisbane’s pre-mapped network of passive technology sales talent is shallower than dedicated specialist agencies operating in the same market.
Inconsistent consultant quality. Experience varies noticeably by assigned consultant — a pattern that consistently appears in Brisbane feedback.
Hays Brisbane Ratings
- Google Reviews — Check the current rating for the Brisbane CBD office on Google Maps
- Glassdoor — 4.6 / 5 based on 49 reviews
- Trustpilot
Hays Perth Reviews
Hays Perth is the Western Australian office, located at Level 12, 172 St Georges Terrace, Perth, WA 6000, with a second office at 863 Hay Street, Perth. The office serves WA’s resources, mining, energy, and growing technology sectors.
Hays Perth Services
Permanent and temporary recruitment across technology, mining support, resources, construction, finance, and commercial roles. Historically strongest in mining and resources-adjacent placements, with an expanding technology and sales practice for WA’s professional services sector.
Pros
Established mining and resources networks. WA employers in the resources sector can access well-developed relationships with candidates in technical and support disciplines.
National database for interstate sourcing. For Perth roles that attract candidates from other states, Hays’ cross-state visibility expands the available talent pool beyond WA.
Efficient for commercial volume roles. Administrative, customer service, and general commercial positions are filled efficiently through the Perth office’s existing candidate database.
Cons
Shallow networks for tech and SaaS sales. Perth’s technology sector is growing but remains smaller than the east coast, and Hays’ generalist model means its local database has limited depth for passive technology sales candidates.
Database-first sourcing limits senior search quality. The Perth office primarily works from registered candidates rather than active headhunting, limiting its effectiveness for senior or passive candidate searches.
Variable consultant quality. Client experience in Perth depends heavily on which individual consultant manages the brief, a recurring theme in feedback about the office.
Hays Perth Ratings
- Google Reviews — Check the current rating for the Perth CBD office on Google Maps
- Glassdoor — Available on Glassdoor
- Trustpilot
Hays Adelaide Reviews
Hays Adelaide is the South Australian office, located at Level 17, 11-19 Grenfell Street, Adelaide SA 5000. The Adelaide office serves SA’s manufacturing, defence, healthcare, and technology sectors, covering both CBD and regional placements.
Hays Adelaide Services
Permanent, temporary, and contract recruitment across technology, finance, construction, manufacturing, and administrative roles, including placements supporting Adelaide’s growing defence industry corridor.
Pros
National database access for Adelaide employers. SA businesses can draw on Hays’ broader Australian candidate pool for roles that attract interstate applicants — a genuine advantage given Adelaide’s smaller local talent market.
Some coverage of SA’s defence-adjacent sector. Employers in South Australia’s defence and engineering corridor can access relevant technical candidate networks.
Efficient for entry-level and volume commercial hiring. Administrative, manufacturing, and customer service roles are placed efficiently relative to more specialist mandates.
Cons
Lowest client satisfaction among Hays Australian offices. Adelaide generates proportionally more negative feedback than other Hays offices, with recurring themes around communication breakdowns and missed follow-ups on live mandates.
Communication gaps on active briefs. Some Adelaide clients report extended periods — weeks or longer — without meaningful updates on open roles, disrupting internal hiring timelines.
Limited specialist depth. For technology and SaaS sales roles in particular, Adelaide’s smaller talent market, combined with the generalist model, limits access to passive, specialist candidates.
Hays Adelaide Ratings
- Google Reviews — 3.7–3.8 / 5 based on approx. 120–130 reviews on Google Maps
- Glassdoor — Available on Glassdoor
- Trustpilot
Hays Australia Alternatives
If Hays does not match your hiring needs, the agencies below are the most commonly evaluated alternatives for Australian businesses, depending on the type of role you are filling.
| Agency | Specialty | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| UltraTalent | SaaS & Tech Sales Recruitment | The specialist choice for quota-carrying sales and GTM hires at software and SaaS companies — Account Executives, SDRs, BDMs, and Sales Leaders — across all major Australian cities |
| Michael Page Australia | Professional & Executive | Mid-to-senior roles across finance, technology, marketing, and sales at professional services and corporate employers |
| Randstad Australia | General Staffing & HR | Volume hiring, outsourced HR solutions, and enterprise workforce planning |
| Robert Walters Australia | Finance, Technology & Legal | Senior finance, technology, and legal roles at financial institutions and professional services firms |
| Robert Half Australia | Finance & Accounting | Permanent and contract finance and accounting placements across SME and enterprise clients |
| Six Degrees Executive | Marketing & Sales Leadership | Senior marketing, sales, and commercial leadership roles in Melbourne and Sydney |
| WorkPac | Blue Collar, Mining & Trades | Construction, manufacturing, mining, and logistics permanent and labour hire placements |
UltraTalent is the specialist alternative for technology and SaaS businesses. Unlike the generalist agencies above, UltraTalent works exclusively on revenue-critical sales roles — placing quota-carrying professionals through a pre-mapped network of 25,000+ candidates built from direct relationships, not job board advertising. For businesses hiring Account Executives, SDRs, BDMs, or Sales Leaders at software and technology companies in Australia, speak with the UltraTalent team.
Is Hays a Good Recruitment Agency in Australia?
Hays is Australia’s largest specialist recruiter by headcount. For businesses with straightforward or high-volume hiring needs — commercial roles, administrative positions, and generalist placements across industries — Hays’ national infrastructure, broad candidate database, and established brand make it a practical choice.
For employers hiring in technology and SaaS sales — where execution history, ramp performance, and cultural fit determine whether a hire succeeds — Hays’ generalist, volume-first model has consistent limitations.
Across every Australian city, the pattern is the same: shortlists that require heavy filtering, consultant turnover that disrupts continuity mid-search, and limited post-placement support once the role is filled.
Businesses with specialist hiring needs are better served by an agency that works exclusively in their niche, sources through direct relationships rather than a shared database, and is accountable for the quality of every placement it makes.
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