Matt Emma
| Contributor
The world of work is changing, and the recruitment industry is no exception. For decades, the traditional recruiter’s career path has looked the same: join a firm, earn a modest base salary, and then hope that commissions, often no more than five percent of what you bring in, will make the job worthwhile. It is a model that has left many recruiters feeling trapped—paid far less than the value they create, bound to rigid structures, and weighed down by endless administrative demands.
But just as other industries have been disrupted by new approaches, from ridesharing to online retail, recruitment is now entering a moment of reinvention. A new generation of companies is challenging the old playbook and redefining what it means to be a recruiter in the twenty-first century. One example is Van Kaizen, a six-year-old firm that is rethinking traditional approaches and drawing interest from recruiters in different regions.
At the heart of Van Kaizen’s model is a very simple realization: the math of traditional recruitment no longer makes sense. As Cosmo Currey, Head of Talent Acquisition at the company, explains, it is not unusual for a recruiter to bring in $400,000 to $600,000 in fees for a firm in a single year, only to take home $80,000 to $120,000 in salary and bonuses. The gap between value created and compensation earned is staggering, and it has left many of the best recruiters wondering if there is a better way.
Van Kaizen’s answer borrows inspiration from an unlikely place: the U.S. real estate industry. Large real estate brands provide the marketing, branding, legal, and back-office infrastructure that agents need, but allow them to keep the majority of their commissions. In other words, they create a system where individuals can run their own businesses under the umbrella of a larger organization, with both independence and support. Van Kaizen has applied that principle to recruitment. The company’s model allocates a smaller share of billings to back-office operations than many traditional firms, allowing recruiters to retain a larger portion themselves.
Suddenly, the same amount in invoicing should put a larger share in the recruiter’s pocket, pre-tax.
The shift is not only financial—it’s cultural. At Van Kaizen, recruiters have complete autonomy over where and when they work, who they work with, and how they manage their clients. That level of independence is rare in an industry where many are used to being tightly managed and closely monitored. “If you want to spend Friday afternoon watching your kid’s football game, you go for it, no questions asked,” says Currey. With no managers or anyone ever looking over your shoulder telling you what to do, the freedom is real, but so is the responsibility to deliver.
And responsibility is the key word. This is not a side hustle, a flexible gig, or a dabble in self-employment. Van Kaizen’s model is demanding and best suited for those with an entrepreneurial streak who want to control their own destinies. Currey is blunt about the fit: out of every hundred recruiters the company speaks to, only about ten are ready for the model. The rest shy away from the risk. There is no base salary, no fallback if you do not perform. The upside is extraordinary, but so is the need for grit, hunger, and discipline.
That high bar is part of what makes the company stand out. Van Kaizen was deliberately built on the Japanese concept of Kaizen, or continuous improvement, which emphasizes progress without ego, whether you are a CEO or a new hire. It has fostered a culture where entrepreneurial recruiters thrive while remaining open to learning and adapting. The company reports a notably strong retention rate in a field often marked by turnover.
Another radical departure from the old model is ownership. In most recruitment firms, the clients and candidates technically belong to the company. If a recruiter leaves, they leave those relationships behind. Van Kaizen flips that equation. At the firm, recruiters own their work, their clients, and their candidates. If they move on, those relationships can go with them. In an industry built on trust and personal connection, that shift is significant, and it underscores the company’s belief that recruiters, not the firms they work for, are the true drivers of value.
The company reinvests heavily in infrastructure to make this independence possible. The 25% share that Van Kaizen retains from billings is put into marketing, invoicing, finance, legal support, and technology. Recruiters can tap into the company’s resources whenever they need them, whether that means legal advice on a contract or marketing materials for a client pitch. The aim is to remove as much of the administrative burden as possible, so recruiters can focus on the relationships that matter.
Looking ahead, Van Kaizen believes technology—particularly artificial intelligence—will play an even bigger role in reshaping recruitment. Administrative tasks such as scheduling interviews, handling invoicing, or drafting legal language can be automated, freeing up recruiters to do what technology cannot: build human relationships and identify great talent. The company’s ambition is to grow from its current 30 recruiters, spread across 16 countries and six continents, to hundreds, creating a global network that operates with unprecedented independence and reach.
Of course, the model is not for everyone. It demands discipline, focus, and the willingness to shoulder risk in exchange for reward. “Van Kaizen can be both the greatest and the hardest place you’ll ever work,” Currey says. “You could sit at home … every day—no one is going to call you about it—but you won’t earn anything either. This is for people with natural drive, those who hear ‘no’ and think, maybe I can turn that into a yes.”
For those who succeed, the rewards can be substantial. The opportunity to keep the majority of their billings, work anywhere in the world, and structure their own lives represents a level of freedom and security that is rare in recruitment—or any industry. Currey challenges recruiters to do the math themselves: take their billings from the last few years, imagine keeping 75% instead of 15%, and ask how different their lives might look.
The broader message is that the old rules of recruitment are starting to crack. Just as technology and shifting expectations have disrupted other sectors of work, recruitment is beginning to evolve into something more flexible, more empowering, and more aligned with the value its professionals actually create. Van Kaizen may not be the only company to see this coming, but it has become one of the most visible examples of what the next era could look like.
For recruiters tired of being underpaid and overmanaged, the industry’s transformation offers a choice. Stay with the familiar model—or embrace a future where autonomy, ownership, and continuous improvement are the new foundations of success.