Building a 120+ Person Workforce to Power a Major Utility Infrastructure Program

The Client

The client is a civil engineering and infrastructure consulting firm specializing in planning, design and construction services.

The Challenge

After being awarded a major project for one of the nation's largest electric and natural gas utilities, the client needed to rapidly build a workforce to support project delivery. Successfully meeting staffing demands was critical not only to fulfilling project commitments, but also to demonstrating the organization’s capability to support large-scale utility initiatives.

Complicating the effort, the specialized talent required for these roles was in exceptionally high demand. Multiple organizations were competing for the same limited pool of qualified candidates, creating a highly competitive hiring environment.

The stakes were high. Failure to secure the necessary workforce could jeopardize the client's ability to meet obligations associated with the awarded work and potentially impact future business opportunities with the end client, including future phases of the project. The client needed a strategic staffing partner capable of quickly attracting, engaging and hiring qualified talent while ensuring workforce targets were met on schedule.

The Actalent Solution

Actalent was selected as the client’s staffing partner based on a history of successful workforce support and consistent delivery of high-quality talent. Building on the established relationship, Actalent developed a scalable contract-to-hire model that enabled the client to rapidly expand its workforce while maintaining quality standards and developing a pipeline of long-term talent.

To meet the project's hiring demands, Actalent implemented a targeted recruiting strategy that leveraged both local recruiters and utility-focused recruiting specialists with deep industry expertise. This blended approach expanded candidate reach and enabled the team to quickly identify, engage and secure qualified professionals despite intense market competition.

Throughout the engagement, Actalent maintained close alignment with the client, ensuring hiring efforts remained focused on business priorities, project timelines and evolving workforce needs.

The Results

The partnership delivered exceptional results. Through structured workforce planning, close collaboration with the client and clear accountability, Actalent successfully managed a high-volume hiring effort while maintaining visibility into hiring progress and workforce goals.

The impact was substantial. Prior to the engagement, the client had no workforce dedicated to supporting this initiative for their end client. Through a combination of experienced recruiters, proven hiring processes and disciplined workforce management, Actalent deployed a team of more than 120 consultants to support critical infrastructure improvement and distribution reliability projects. This enabled the client to address a significant project backlog while meeting ambitious project timelines.

The value of the partnership extended beyond filling positions. As the client’s largest revenue-generating project to date, the initiative delivered significant business value and further strengthened the client’s position within the utility sector. The client particularly valued Actalent’s consistency, market expertise and ability to deliver qualified talent at both high volume and high quality. Additionally, strong onboarding and compliance processes ensured all consultants met the end client’s screening requirements.

The success of the engagement also positioned the client for future growth, contributing to the award of an additional project and creating new opportunities for continued workforce expansion and collaboration.