The Impact of AI on Recruitment

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has seen significant growth and development in recent years and is now having a profound impact on many aspects of our lives including job hunting.
In the recruitment industry, the rise of AI has also been substantial. It is already impacting the recruitment process according to research by Totaljobs, as technology is adopted to streamline and optimise various aspects of the process.

The online recruitment website conducted a survey where it found that people are expecting employers to invest in artificial intelligence, with 46% expecting businesses to use AI to increase productivity and performance.

AI, put simply, involves software being able to execute tasks that are usually carried out by humans. This includes – among other things – decision-making, visual and vocal recognition, and translation.

Though AI has been having an impact on recruitment for many years, it is slowly becoming more prevalent, with a growing number of workers in the UK expecting employers to utilise it increasingly for often tedious, time-consuming tasks that can be automated. e.g. AI-driven chatbot.

Other surveys also found that 89% of HR professionals believe that AI will improve the applicant application process with such benefits as;

• Speeding up the hiring process
• Cost cutting
• Enhancing candidate experience
• Providing valuable insights
• Reduced bias
• More complex talent search tools
• Data-driven results

AI Recruitment Within Businesses:

Businesses using AI within the recruitment process, mainly rely on automated decision systems for two reasons: to find employees with a niche skill set or level of experience or to analyse a large volume of job applicants. This varies from industry to industry. For example, companies hiring in niche roles in high-tech, such as software engineers, machine learning engineers, and data scientists, may use automated systems to find the right kind of candidate and reach out to them even if they’re not actively looking for a new job. On the other hand, employers looking to fill internship, sales, or service industry jobs, may turn to AI-powered algorithms to narrow down a larger candidate pool.

Researchers at New York University Tandon School of Engineering agreed with the sentiment based on projects spanning numerous companies within the US. Due to AI, hiring is undergoing a quiet, yet earth-shaking revolution. Many Fortune 500 companies employ AI-based solutions to sift through the millions of job applications the companies receive every year. The potential issue is that many companies do not want to reveal what technology they are using, and vendors do not want to reveal what is in the black box, despite evidence that some automated decision-making systems may make biased or arbitrary decisions.

How Workers Feel About AI in Recruitment

As part of its research, which spoke to over 2,000 candidates in the UK, Totaljobs also found that 88% of those asked are happy for artificial intelligence to be used as part of the hiring process but are not comfortable with it taking on decisions usually made by humans. 72% of people believe full disclosure of AI in recruitment should be compulsory, especially, how much influence it has within the recruitment process. 38% of people are satisfied with employers using AI in recruitment to create job adverts, and 36% do not agree with the use of AI in creating candidate shortlists. Overall, 42% of people agreed that when used responsibly AI could make the recruitment process fairer for previously marginalised candidates.

However, a majority of the people surveyed draw the line at AI taking over the recruitment process completely from humans. 86% of people disagree with AI conducting independent job interviews, and 84% do not agree with AI being involved in the decision-making process. In fact, only 14% would agree to an interview conducted by AI. This is largely due to the concern that AI would not be equipped to assess soft skills. Human qualities such as empathy and contextual understanding are still (almost) impossible to replace with software.

How AI Could Revolutionise Jobs

The research also showed that 54% of people think that AI will help to automate their workload, with a similar percentage believing that AI will encourage them to learn new skills and boost their productivity. However, this positivity is not reflected in how often AI is currently being used within the workplace. Only 21% of employees feel comfortable using AI, and half admit to never having used it. Until workers are provided better training on how AI could be used in the workplace, it’s likely that job automation could be somewhat limited.

The majority of the support for using AI as part of the recruitment process stems from newer, more tech-savvy generations who work in an office. 48% of Gen Z are excited about what AI could do for recruitment, as opposed to only 33% of Gen X. The research also highlighted that women are more sceptical of AI being used, with only 26% believing that AI could help with the growth and development of their career.

From these findings, it’s possible to say that a large percentage of the workforce in the UK is happy for AI to have a place in the recruitment process. However, they are wary of it replacing humans completely. As AI becomes more widely used, workers can benefit from job automation, but most people are keen for human influence to remain.

As with any transformation, AI adoption also has its hazards but whatever the future of recruitment holds, HR leaders and recruiters can stand ready to adapt to the new reality. While AI has the potential to positively impact the recruiting space, it is important to remember the human element needed to realise these developments.

AI can be used to handle repetitive and simple tasks and improve productivity while human recruiters can provide the critical thinking, empathy, and judgement necessary to make well-informed hiring decisions.

In 2021, The USA’s International Trade Administration estimated that the UK’s AI market is set to add $880bn to the economy by 2035, investment in artificial intelligence has reached record highs, with AI scaleups raising almost double the amounts raised in France, Germany and the rest of Europe combined. The UK was named the third country in the world (after the U.S. and China) in terms of investment in AI.  Moving forward, it will be a technology every business should keep in mind when planning for growth and for additions to its tech stack.

Redline Group changes lives every day, building world-class teams for technology companies. We continue to be one of the UK’s most trusted Electronics and High Technology recruitment specialists for professional Contract, Permanent and Executive positions. With four decades of experience our passionate, knowledge-led people create trusted recruitment solutions, Redline is perfectly positioned to offer advice about future-proofing your permanent, contract and interim needs in the technology sector.

If you’re looking for a new role or would like to discuss the involvement of AI in recruitment further, call us on 01582 450054 or email info@RedlineGroup.com.