CDEK HR: Chatbots reduced recruiter workload by 30%

Results

• Automated hiring across 26 cities

• Built a centralized communication system that handles 8,000 chats per month

• Saved 10–12 working hours per week for each of 15 recruiters

• Reduced the loss of strong candidates caused by late calls or missed reminders

• Achieved a customer satisfaction score of 4.7 out of 5

About the Company

CDEK is a delivery and logistics company operating in 67,000 cities worldwide and handling 300,000 shipments every day. More than 25,000 employees support operations at this scale.

Challenge

• Reduce the time recruiters spend on repetitive candidate communication

• Prevent strong candidates from dropping out because of late calls or missed reminders

Starting Point

The Head of Recruitment was responsible for 24 cities. A team of 16 recruiters managed candidates throughout the entire hiring process:

1. They sourced resumes from HeadHunter, SuperJob, Habr Career, Avito Jobs, Rabota.ru, and other job sites;

2. They added candidates to Huntflow;

3. They managed every stage of the hiring funnel and made sure candidates did not fall through the cracks:

• Inviting them to group interviews, trial days, and onboarding;

• Sending reminders by messenger, SMS, voice message, and phone;

• Providing help whenever something went wrong.

Each recruiter spent an average of 10–12 hours per week, or 1.5–2 hours per day, on this work. Every candidate required three to four touchpoints.

Example:

To invite 40 people to a group interview, 20 to a trial day, and 8 to onboarding, every candidate needs to be called at least twice.

Total: (40 + 20 + 8) × 2 = 136 calls

Solution

CDEK needed a chatbot that could take over recurring tasks and reduce the operational workload. The company had previously worked with another provider that failed to complete the project after six months, so CDEK turned to Flomni.

Implementation stages

We built three chatbots for CDEK's main high-volume roles:

1. Warehouse associates

2. Driver-couriers using their own passenger cars

3. Driver-couriers using their own Gazelle vans

CDEK designed the conversation logic around its corporate hiring standards and procedures. For a large organization, this approach makes it easier to integrate automation into existing workflows.

Our role was to design and implement the right technical solution. We moved from preparation to the launch of all three bots in three weeks. We started with a small pilot, tested it, and then expanded both the functionality and candidate volume.

We also assigned a dedicated manager who remains available throughout the partnership to help CDEK develop and improve its automation.

How CDEK's chatbots work

The chatbot starts working as soon as a candidate's data enters Huntflow.

1. New Candidate status. The chatbot picks up candidates assigned the New status and sends them a message. If a candidate is interested and replies “Yes,” the bot invites them to complete an assessment.

2. Approved/Rejected by Bot status.

   If the candidate passes and meets the requirements, the status changes to “Approved by Bot.” Otherwise, it changes to “Rejected by Bot.” The new status is sent back to Huntflow and the candidate profile is passed to a recruiter.

3. Phone Interview — Unable to Reach status.

   If a recruiter cannot reach the candidate, the system sends an Unable to Reach notification and the bot checks whether the candidate is still interested.

4. Invited to Group Interview status.

   Once a recruiter has spoken to the candidate and moved them to this stage, the chatbot sends the vacancy details and the date, address, and time of the interview. The candidate receives the message immediately and again two hours before the interview.

5. Invited to Trial Day status.

   If both sides want to continue, the recruiter selects the trial-day date and time. The bot sends a notification with “I'll attend” and “I can't attend” buttons. The answer is sent back to Huntflow, added as a recruiter comment, and followed by a reminder.

6. Invited to Onboarding status.

   Candidates who complete the trial day receive a message with “I'll attend” and “I can't attend” buttons. Their response is sent back to Huntflow. Recruiters can follow up on declines by phone or SMS, while later status changes trigger automatic notifications.

7. Rejected status. If a candidate does not meet the requirements, the recruiter changes the status and the candidate receives an automatic rejection message.

The chatbot does not replace human interaction. It answers common questions in advance, so candidates are warmer, better informed, and more receptive when the recruiter calls.

Project Development

Our team had already completed two successful projects with CDEK: optimizing outbound notifications and automating incoming request handling. CDEK chose us again because of those results. The customer is satisfied with the new solution, and we are now exploring further opportunities to automate other labor-intensive processes.

We will share these new projects in future case studies.

Job offer accepted | Flomni

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