The applicant tracking system (ATS) market is one of the fastest-growing segments in HR technology. According to Grand View Research, the global ATS market was valued at $2.76 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of 6.7% through 2030. As ATS vendors race to acquire customers and retain them, their internal operations are straining under the weight of rapid growth — and many are turning to virtual assistants (VAs) to close the gap.
The Operational Squeeze Inside ATS Companies
ATS providers typically run lean. Product, engineering, and customer success teams are stretched thin. Sales reps spend hours on non-selling tasks — updating CRM records, prepping demo environments, and following up on inbound leads. Customer success managers drown in onboarding paperwork and ticket backlogs. Data quality inside client accounts deteriorates without dedicated attention.
A 2023 Salesforce report found that sales representatives spend only 28% of their time actually selling. The remaining 72% is consumed by administrative work. For ATS companies — whose revenue depends on closing new contracts and retaining existing clients — this inefficiency is a direct hit to the top line.
Virtual assistants offer a targeted fix. Rather than hiring full-time staff for every operational function, ATS companies are delegating repeatable tasks to VAs who work in their systems without requiring training on core product development.
Where VAs Add the Most Value in ATS Operations
Sales and demand generation support. VAs handle prospecting list building, LinkedIn outreach sequencing, CRM data hygiene, and meeting scheduling for ATS sales teams. When a sales director's calendar is filled with qualified demos instead of back-and-forth email chains, close rates improve.
Customer onboarding and implementation support. New ATS clients require significant hand-holding during setup — integration walkthroughs, data migration coordination, and configuration documentation. VAs can manage onboarding checklists, schedule implementation calls, and draft product guides, freeing customer success managers to focus on relationship management.
Content and marketing operations. ATS companies compete heavily on content — comparison pages, SEO-driven blog posts, case studies, and webinar series. VAs with content backgrounds can research, draft, and publish this material at scale, reducing the burden on small marketing teams.
Technical support tier-1 triage. Many ATS vendors use VAs as the first line of customer support, filtering tickets by urgency, gathering system information from clients, and resolving common questions before escalating to engineering. This reduces support costs and improves response times.
The Business Case for VA-Augmented Teams
The cost differential is significant. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for a customer service representative in the United States is approximately $38,000, not counting benefits and overhead. A qualified VA through a managed service provider typically costs 40–60% less, with no benefits burden.
For venture-backed ATS startups under pressure to extend runway, this math matters. A company replacing two full-time operational staff with VAs can redirect six figures annually toward product development or sales capacity.
Beyond cost, there is a speed advantage. Hiring full-time employees through standard recruiting pipelines takes an average of 44 days according to SHRM research. VA placements can be operational in days, which is critical when an ATS company is scaling into a new market or managing a spike in customer onboarding volume.
Choosing the Right VA Partner for HR Tech
Not every VA provider is equipped to support HR technology companies. ATS operations require VAs who understand CRM platforms like Salesforce or HubSpot, can navigate HRIS and ATS tools themselves, and are comfortable handling sensitive client data under confidentiality requirements.
Companies looking to build a reliable VA team for their HR tech operations should consider providers with demonstrated experience in SaaS and HR technology environments. Stealth Agents specializes in placing vetted virtual assistants for technology companies, with talent experienced in sales operations, customer success support, and content production for software vendors.
As the ATS market continues to consolidate and competition intensifies, the companies that scale their operations efficiently will hold the advantage. Virtual assistants are proving to be one of the most practical tools for achieving that efficiency without sacrificing quality.
Sources
- Grand View Research, "Applicant Tracking System Market Size & Trends," 2023
- Salesforce, "State of Sales Report," 2023
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics, 2023