UKG, a leading global AI platform unifying HR, pay, and workforce management, today announced that Yarco Companies, a family-owned, multistate affordable housing provider, is using UKG® Rapid Hire to dramatically shorten hiring cycles for essential frontline positions and get qualified candidates in the door faster who are ready to work on day one. As part of the UKG Workforce Operating Platform, Rapid Hire helps organizations quickly move new hires from application to interview and onboarding to scheduling and into productive work.
Based in Kansas City, Missouri, Yarco manages a portfolio of apartment properties across nine U.S. states and has expanded its footprint in recent years. Behind that growth is a constant need for dependable on-site teams — community managers, leasing agents, maintenance crews, and grounds staff — who interact with residents daily. In a highly competitive hiring landscape, finding the right people to serve residents quickly is challenging. With UKG Rapid Hire, which is purpose-built for frontline, shift-based work where speed-to-fill specific shifts matter most, Yarco can move candidates from application to interview in minutes without recruiter or leader intervention, helping bring in qualified talent faster and avoid gaps in critical roles.
“Speed is everything in today’s competitive labor market, and we have to engage candidates quickly or we lose them,” said Mickey Carlson, Director of HR at Yarco. “We don’t have an internal recruiter, so each hiring manager has to do their own recruiting. UKG Rapid Hire takes a big chunk of that work off their plate by engaging candidates the moment they apply — they can answer qualifying questions and schedule an interview in under five minutes. That immediacy has completely changed how we hire.”
UKG Rapid Hire uses AI to help organizations like Yarco keep pace with the constant demand of high-volume, high-turnover frontline hiring. Instead of slowing down teams with manual screening and scheduling, it quickly identifies qualified candidates through role-specific questions and moves them directly to interviews. For Yarco, this means roles stay filled and hiring keeps up with business needs, even as competition for talent remains high.
“We’ve been using Rapid Hire for several years now, and it’s simply how we operate,” said Carlson. “It’s one of the most impactful process improvements we’ve made for the business and one of the best things we could have done for our people, and I don’t see how we could ever go back.”
The team processed approximately 12,500 applicants in a year, with nearly 60% meeting qualification criteria and moving directly to interviews. This allows hiring managers to focus on high-quality candidates while maintaining compliance with HUD and tax credit regulations.
“In affordable housing, experience isn’t optional. Being able to qualify candidates right at the start gives us confidence in who we’re interviewing and saves our managers an enormous amount of time,” said Carlson.
From the frontline worker point of view, UKG Rapid Hire strengthens the candidate experience with easy, intuitive mobile-first communication. Built-in texting makes it easy for applicants to confirm or reschedule interview times or ask questions about the role — aligning with modern expectations for hourly and frontline workers. Simultaneously, regional leaders gain real-time visibility into hiring activity across multiple locations through centralized reporting. As part of the UKG Workforce Operating Platform, UKG Rapid Hire doesn’t just accelerate hiring; it helps ensure critical roles are staffed and productive before gaps impact business performance.
“In frontline environments, speed and efficiency from hiring to scheduling is directly tied to business performance. Every open role impacts service, cost, and the employee experience,” said Amy Brar, General Manager, Workforce Management at UKG. “What sets UKG Rapid Hire apart is its ability to bring speed and precision together at scale, so organizations can consistently hire the right people and get them productive on day one without overburdening their teams. By embedding hiring into the broader flow of work, organizations can stay ahead of demand, maintain service levels, and operate more efficiently.”
Supporting Resources
About UKG
UKG is a leading global AI platform for HR, pay, and workforce management. Unifying award-winning solutions with the world’s largest collection of workforce data and people-first AI, UKG delivers unrivaled insights into today’s workforce, helping organizations in every industry turn data into decisions that elevate productivity, culture, and the customer experience. Trusted by more than 80,000 organizations across 150 countries, tens of millions of employees — from small businesses to global enterprises — use UKG every day. To learn more, visit ukg.com.
Copyright 2026 UKG Inc. All rights reserved. For a full list of UKG trademarks, please visit ukg.com/trademarks. All other trademarks, if any, are property of their respective owners. All specifications are subject to change.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260428860408/en/
Media gallery
