Raj Mukherjee, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Employer, Indeed.
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2023 brought on many new challenges for employers, but one thing remained constant: The hiring process needs an overhaul. Qualified candidates slip through the cracks while companies struggle to find the right talent to fill their open roles.
The reality check for me happened while watching my daughter, a high school senior, navigate her own job search. Her results didn't align with her skills and experience, which impacted her confidence and expectations. This challenge was exacerbated by many potential employers failing to respond or even acknowledge her. (In all fairness, there were instances where she didn't respond to employers either.)
This isn't a unique story but rather a recurring theme. My daughter was merely the latest example to reinforce what is top of mind for me every day: There has to be a more efficient way to do this.
We Need A Better Job Search Process
My daughter's job search woes echo what I see on a daily basis: Job seekers crave personalized opportunities that match their skills, while employers value a quick response from candidates who align with their needs. This emphasizes the need for a hiring process that focuses on matching the right candidates to the right employers, and vice versa.
Employers have a chance to fine-tune their 2024 hiring strategies in the dynamic job market, making them more personalized and more responsive. Considering the potential of using AI within the hiring process is exciting. But as we embrace AI, it's important for employers to remember that this technology has its limitations. Below are my thoughts on AI's efficiency and vulnerabilities and its role as a partner, not a replacement.
AI Can Make Hiring More Efficient
Harnessing today's AI capabilities enables employers to automate mundane, administrative and time-consuming tasks, allowing them to focus on what truly matters—human connections.
At Indeed, for example, we’re applying a data-driven approach to our massive dataset—incorporating artificial intelligence and machine-learning elements, among other things. This involves utilizing hundreds of millions of qualifications and preferences voluntarily shared by job seekers and employers daily. Through this approach, we connect job seekers and employers more effectively. Today, Indeed's matching technology makes over 20 hires every minute—more than double our numbers from a few years ago. We've also developed an AI job description generator to help employers draft job descriptions more quickly.
Human Resource and Talent Acquisition (HR/TA) decision-makers are using AI tools like this for tasks like summarizing résumés and generating interview questions. Employers that use automation or AI overwhelmingly (85%) say it saves them time and increases their efficiency, according to SHRM.
The rate of AI adoption is sure to increase in the coming years. I encourage all employers to explore these platforms and tools as a means to significantly speed up the time to hire.
Understand AI’s Vulnerabilities s AI gains popularity for how it can help with efficiency in hiring, understanding its human roots and potential biases is also crucial. After all, AI is powered by data, data comes from humans and humans are flawed.
Looking at an example, we know that many employers still have college degrees required in their job descriptions, yet about 60% of U.S. adults do not have a college degree, and the percentage is higher among Black and Hispanic adults. AI often screens out talent based on programmed criteria like degrees, which disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic candidates. The AI vulnerability in this case is clear: Because a human has trained AI technology to automatically reject someone who does not have a college degree, people are missing out on opportunities, employers are missing out on talent that can likely do the job well and there is racial bias in the hiring process.
Instead, AI should leverage skills, experiences and related work to truly determine if someone’s qualifications meet the needs of an employer. Of course, certain roles do require a specific education, but hiring would still be improved if AI were optimized to look at candidates based on skills and experience. This is part of what we are focused on at Indeed and one reason that we no longer require college degrees in most of our own job ads. We are aware of AI’s limitations—that may be originally initiated by humans—and we’re looking to remove these barriers to hiring. To that end, we are guided by our Responsible AI principles in the technology we build and program.
Think Of AI As A Partner, Not A Replacement
It’s critical to remember that AI has been around for a long time, predating the recent innovations making headlines. At Indeed, we’ve been using AI for nearly two decades, and we have learned a lot along the way. We think of AI as a partner, not a replacement for what we want to achieve. AI can add value and save time, but humans are still in control. Your judgment and review cannot be replaced by AI; rather, AI should complement and enhance your work.
As jobs continue to evolve with potential AI-driven changes, AI will help address labor shortages by speeding up hiring processes. Indeed's research shows that AI is likely to impact all jobs, bringing more efficiency to jobs in different ways. Notably, software engineers may see the most significant impact, while jobs like drivers may be affected less. AI is a crucial ally, but its impact on roles varies; understanding these nuances is key.
While my daughter ultimately found a job, the process could have been a lot faster, easier and more human. AI can help with the entire hiring process, and it carries enormous potential, but we need to be mindful of its risks and always keep humans at the center.
The key is to leverage technology responsibly, ensuring it genuinely enhances the hiring process, creates more matches between job seekers and employers, and contributes to a more human and inclusive hiring process.
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