Of course they don't. If the recruiter doesn't ask you for a reference then the hiring manager you are interviewing with will. You are right about the face-to

Of course they don't. If the recruiter doesn't ask you for a reference then the hiring manager you are interviewing with will. You are right about the face-to-face meetings though. A lot of staffing agencies require that their people do this. It is a core metric for many of them. If you are frustrated by this then find a good recruiter and don't bother with the others. You should want a good recruiter to know you are out there - they are going to be thinking about ways to help you. The flip side is that they only call you when you showed up in their search.