Swire Coca-Cola + Hirevue

From chaos to clarity: Transforming high-volume hiring

  (mobile version)

Problem

Swire Coca-Cola employs 8,000 people, with 4,000 of these roles hourly and high-volume positions. About 80% of these roles require no experience, and hiring is based on basic eligibility (18+). 

Traditional hiring at Swire involved posting jobs, receiving 100+ applicants, making phone calls, and deciding based on those calls, introducing bias and inefficiency.

When she joined the team at Swire Coca-Cola, Kimberly Raimondi, Director of TA, met processes that were in need of organization and optimization.

The bulk of hiring responsibility had shifted from the TA team to hiring managers, siloing the process with minimal structure. The lack of a streamlined process led to inefficiencies, with time-to-fill reaching 45 days; far too long for a competitive hiring market.

“Because of our affiliation with Coca-Cola, the amount of applicants we receive is astounding. We knew we needed a solution to weed through the noise, so top applicants could rise to the top,” said Raimondi.

In addition, they faced internal challenges as they looked for buy-in from key stakeholders who weren’t convinced hiring technology could do the job better.

Solution

For six months, Raimondi and her team focused on building a strong foundation to optimize Swire’s hiring process. When deciding on a solution, they examined the landscape and found that Hirevue not only had similar customers with similar challenges but felt the vendor understood what they really required.

“Other tools didn’t understand what we needed. We needed tangible solutions that would address our problems, reduce unqualified applicant volume, and ultimately reduce turnover,” said Raimondi.

The team turned to OnDemand Text, Virtual Job Tryouts, and structured interviewing—all integrated with their ATS and standardizing the process. 

Results

  • Average Time to Fill (TTF):
    • 30 days from requisition to start date (from 48 days without Hirevue)
    • 15 days from application to candidate start date
  • 3.5 days total from application to offer
  • 77% VJT completion rate
  • 79% interview completion rate

With an optimized process, applicants apply via Swire’s ATS and answer 4-5 screening questions. If answered appropriately for the role, they then are offered a Realistic Job Preview  and Virtual Job Tryout—two critical steps in hourly hiring to help reduce turnover by offering realistic glimpses into what a day on the job really looks like. From there, candidates complete a live interview. 

“Hirevue has empowered our TA teams to become strategic talent partners and helped build our relationships with the broader organization. We’ve seen metrics we’ve never seen before. For example, we scheduled 8 candidates, 8 showed up for interviews, and 7 received offers. That’s an unprecedented success rate.”

In addition, Swire knew its responsibility to its candidates to create a positive hiring experience—especially when their candidates are customers as well. Establishing their brand as one that treats candidates with respect and ensures they leave the process still feeling positive about the brand, even with a rejection, is critically important. 

“A key priority for us is ‘designing for the disappointed’—finding a way to reject candidates respectfully while improving the overall hiring process.”

By taking ownership of Swire’s hiring transformation, Raimondi and her team have turned a once-fragmented process into a high-performing, strategic function. The shift to structured interviewing, Virtual Job Tryouts, Realistic Job Previews, and structured interviewing has not only streamlined hiring but also significantly improved candidate experience and hiring outcomes.

As Raimondi puts it, “We are all elevating together with this change.” 

Swire’s talent acquisition team has moved from reactive hiring to proactive, with the ability to be more strategic and data-driven, proving that the right technology and mindset can transform even the most challenging hiring environments.

Quick Facts

Industry:

Retail

Employees:

8,000
Days total from application to offer

3.5

VJT completion rate

77%

Interview completion rate

79%

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