TAtech North America & the World Job Board Forum delivered as promised. From the Opening to the Closing Keynote, speakers challenged attendees’ assumptions, pushed them out of their comfort zone and gave them fresh perspectives to take back to their companies as they prepare for the second half of 2024 and beyond.
There were too many insights and ideas to recount them all, but here are some of the highlights:
• It’s still too early to determine if the U.S. economy has in fact achieved a so-called “soft landing,” but what is clear is that the job market (with just a handful of exceptions) is fast approaching a balance of supply and demand. What does that mean for online recruitment advertising sites? There’s business to be had, but publishers will have to streamline operations and reset bizdev strategies in order to capture it at a profit.
• AI governance is fast becoming a key topic with corporate c-suites and even Boards of Directors. While this concern applies to all corporate functions, it will have a particularly crucial impact on the pace and practices of talent technology acquisition. Therefore, the smart solution provider will acquire an expertise in the nuances of governance either by adding appropriately knowledgeable staff or by partnering with an organization that has such individuals onboard.
• External investments, mergers and acquisitions are becoming more common as competition intensifies in the job board and talent technology markets. Typically, all of the stakeholders except one are included in planning for and implementing the resulting changes. While lawyers and investment counselors, sales leaders and development teams take part in the process, all too often, the customer’s TA teams do not, and that oversight can cause serious problems.
• The pace of talent technology development has now accelerated to the point that it could outstrip the ability of corporate TA teams to accurately understand what’s available and effectively acquire and absorb it. It’s no longer an issue of techphobia, however, (although that still exists with AI), but rather an institutional shortcoming, where policies and procedures (often promulgated by out-of-touch HR Departments) are outmoded and in need of significant revision.
• The best of niche job boards have become the pacesetters in online recruitment advertising. While they are just as susceptible as larger sites to the challenges of an uncertain economy, the disruption they experience is relatively more modest. Their advantage is not technology but strategy based. They eschew transactional relationships and instead focus on deploying content and functionality that builds a deep, enduring loyalty among both job seekers and employers.
• The training data for AI solutions is improving rapidly, but problems still persist. Historical data needs to be carefully vetted for both bias and potential copyright infringement. Initially, of course, the former is the developer’s job, but that task must be performed by the customer as well, post product acquisition. The latter is more difficult as it will require a legal or regulatory fix and may well involve significant litigation before that occurs.
These and other insights were the foundation for the conference’s value to those who attended. The superstructure of that value was their own conversations about the accuracy and implications of the presentations.
So, make sure you grab some of that value – attend the next TAtech conference: TAtech Europe & The EMEA Job Board Forum. It will be held at Cercle National des Armées in Paris, France on September 17-19, 2024. Join us!