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The futurist John Naisbitt published his bestseller Megatrends in 1980. In it, he explored ten major new directions in human society, covering such areas as Climate Action and Sustainability, Digitalization, Inequality, and Demography. It was a groundbreaking book that addressed the transformative change underway around the globe in the late twentieth century.
Conceptually, Megashifts is at once both similar and different. It too addresses change, but focuses on talent acquisition rather than society and on the change in destination not direction – on where we actually are instead of where we’re heading. Said another way, Megashifts is the concept of examining whether, in fact, we have moved from one state – the familiar past – to another state – a new reality – in recruiting.
For this post, I’ll look at whether or not we have achieved a megashift in recruiters’ use of AI. According to a September, 2024 article published by JoinGenius, a whopping 81 percent of companies use AI in “virtual recruitment.” Zippia is almost as enthusiastic. It reports that 65 percent of recruiters now use AI in their work. And DemandSage goes even further. It asserts that “More than 65% of recruiters have used AI to hire people.”
Those findings beg the question: Have we, in fact, moved beyond early adoption and are now in the mature adoption phase of AI in talent acquisition? Have we actually created a new reality in which recruiting teams work side-by-side with their artificially intelligent partners? Has the old state of recruiting with dumb technology been replaced by a new state that employs smart machines to improve productivity and the candidate experience?
The TAtech Leadership Summit on Recruitment Marketing is designed for HR/TA leaders and senior professionals at enterprise employers and their counterparts among TA solution providers. To be held at the newly renovated Le Méridien Tampa, The Courthouse, the conference opens with a welcome reception on the evening of February 26 and then runs all day February 27. The agenda covers everything from the potential impact of the new Administration and what corporate recruitment marketing leaders have planned in 2025 to the impact of AI and the business case for branding. Seating is limited at the conference venue, so register today to make sure you have a spot.
First, let’s discuss why it’s important to know exactly where we are with the deployment of AI in recruiting. Given the findings above, it wouldn’t be unusual for recruiters to worry about “keeping up with the Jones.” If the headlines cause them to believe they’re behind their competitors in the use of AI the talent market, they are more likely to rush into the acquisition of the technology before they’ve adequately prepared for it.
What does that mean? The surest way to botch the introduction of AI (or any other technology, for that matter) is to do so without first understanding:
• what you want it to do and the improvement you expect it to deliver (in such areas as cost per hire, time-to-hire, person-job matching, the candidate experience);
• how you’re going to measure the improvement generated by the technology and remediate any shortfall in delivered performance; and
• what preparation stakeholders will need in order for them to accept the changes in individual and group practices, organizational process and even company policy that will result from the technology’s use.
So, knowing whether or not the megashift in AI has already occurred is essential to good recruiting management. And, despite the headlines generated by JoinGenius, Zippia and DemandSage (among others), there’s plenty of evidence that AI is not yet mainstream. For example, Mercer conducted a study of 500 HR leaders and found that only 38 percent of the respondents said they were using AI to source and engage candidates, while even fewer – just 26 percent – were using it for person-job matching.
Similarly, a study by LinkedIn found that while 62% of talent acquisition professionals were positive about generative AI’s role in recruitment, only 27 percent were actually using it. And in March of last year, research by Valoir produced findings that were even more modest. It found that just 25 percent of the respondents were already using AI to automate tasks and only 30 percent expected to adopt it in the next 12 months.
So, has the megashift already occurred in the application of AI in talent acquisition and, therefore, do those recruiters who have not yet hopped on board need to rush to do so? No and no. We are not yet in a state of universal AI adoption. In fact, we’re still very far from it. The current reality is somewhere between early and mature adoption.
Yes, there’s no doubt that AI can be a powerful capability for improving recruitment productivity and outcomes, but those benefits will only be achieved if it is introduced with careful planning, acquisition, and implementation. So, ignore the breathless commentary, take a deep breath, and then introduce the technology in a targeted and measured way that helps your recruiters do their jobs better.
Food for Thought,
Peter
Peter Weddle has authored or edited over two dozen books and been a columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He is the founder and CEO of TAtech: The Association for Talent Acquisition Solutions.
