Hiring in New York is a supply-and-demand problem at scale. The city's talent pool spans finance, tech, media, healthcare, and professional services—each with its own sourcing rhythm and salary floor. Cost of living runs 30–40% above the national median, so compensation expectations are accordingly high. Time-to-hire stretches longer here than in smaller metros: qualified candidates often field multiple competing offers, and commute or remote-work flexibility shapes candidate decisions as much as base salary. Brooklyn and Manhattan hubs pull talent across neighborhoods, but rising rents push some candidates toward Queens and the outer boroughs. Raffi addresses this friction by automating the candidate screening phase for your open roles. As an agentic AI recruiter, Raffi works exclusively with candidates who apply directly to your jobs—it reviews applications against your role requirements, runs structured interviews asynchronously, and surfaces your strongest candidates ranked and ready to move forward. This compression of early-stage screening frees your team to focus on final-round conversations and offer negotiation, where relationships matter most. For New York hiring managers juggling high application volume and compressed timelines, Raffi cuts weeks from the process. If your team is managing multiple openings across competitive sectors, we can help you move faster. Let's talk.
<60 sec
Application to first contact
10-15 min
Per applicant interview
$0
Hire fees, ever
Raffi calls every applicant for a 10-15 min structured interview. Not just the top 5 résumés — every one. Result: nobody good slips through.
Conversational AI interview, rubric-anchored scoring, transcripts you can read. You get a top 3-5 shortlist while competitors are still scheduling first-rounds.
SaaS pricing from $199/mo. No 15-25% of first-year salary, no per-hire kickback. Cancel anytime.
New York's hiring market in 2026 remains bifurcated. Tech roles—software engineers, product managers, data specialists—continue to draw talent and command premium salaries, though headcount growth has stabilized compared to 2021–2022. Finance and professional services remain steady employers, with some rotation toward hybrid and remote arrangements widening the geographic talent pool. Healthcare hiring stays robust, particularly for clinical and operational roles. Media and publishing roles face structural pressure; attrition is gradual but steady. Time-to-hire across competitive sectors averages 25–35 days for professional roles, though specialized positions (senior engineering, fintech) can stretch to 50+ days. Candidate supply appears stable but selective—strong candidates remain passive or in early-stage conversations with multiple employers simultaneously. Salary expectations continue to outpace national averages by 25–35%, particularly in tech and finance.
New York hiring demands fluency in vertical-specific talent patterns. Tech roles cluster around Midtown, Hudson Yards, and Brooklyn's emerging hubs; finance expects Manhattan proximity or hybrid clarity upfront; media and publishing candidates weight culture and mission heavily alongside compensation. Commute times and remote policy are negotiating points almost as often as salary. Candidate communication norms skew toward directness and speed—delayed feedback loops cost you offers. Many candidates speak multiple languages, and background diversity is standard; screening processes that assume monolingual or monoethnic norms underperform. Salary expectations for mid-level roles run $100K–$160K+ depending on sector; entry-level professional roles start at $65K–$85K. Top sectors: fintech, healthcare technology, media platforms, commercial real estate tech, and traditional finance.
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Yes. Raffi operates in 30+ languages and supports candidate calls in any timezone via self-booking — there's no per-city integration. If you can post a role from New York, you can run Raffi from New York.
Raffi is calibrated against the major AI-in-hiring frameworks (EU AI Act + NYC Local Law 144) and discloses AI use to every candidate before the call. For New York-specific work permits and right-to-work checks, those happen outside Raffi — we screen, you verify eligibility before extending an offer.
Remote-first or fully remote roles attract talent citywide, but hybrid (2–3 days in-office) remains standard for finance, media, and professional services. Tech roles tend to offer more flexibility. Clarity on your commute or remote policy early in the conversation prevents late-stage drop-offs.
Mid-level software engineers typically expect $130K–$180K base salary plus equity/bonus; product managers $110K–$160K; data engineers $120K–$170K. Ranges vary by sector and company stage. Finance roles often pay 10–25% higher. Underestimating these expectations will cost you candidates.
Expect 25–35 days for professional roles, longer for specialized or senior positions. New York candidates often juggle multiple offers and move quickly when motivated. Slow feedback or extended interview processes increase drop-off risk.
Agentic recruiting is recruiting done by an AI agent that takes action on your behalf — not a chatbot or résumé summarizer. Raffi calls every applicant for a structured 10-15 minute interview, scores them against your rubric, and hands you a ranked top 3-5. The work happens autonomously.
Most agencies charge 15-25% of first-year salary as a placement fee — a $90k hire runs $13-22k. Raffi is SaaS at $199-599/mo plus per-action credits, typically landing under $10k/year for a team hiring 12 people. Same shortlist quality, no placement contract.
About 25 minutes to onboard, post your first role, and have Raffi ready to interview applicants. No engineering work, no integration project. Connect your work email, paste a JD, you're live.
Free $25 starter credit. No credit card. Screening live by tonight.