In an attempt to uncover trends in digitization in the recruitment process, Kelly Outsourcing and Consulting Group (KellyOCG), global advisor of talent supply chain strategies, published a report titled, “Digital Recruiting: Disruption by Design, And Not Default.”

KellyOCG conducted a global survey consisting of 522 companies across the globe. About 55 percent of survey respondents believe that digital innovation for recruiting going to be the new normal.  The report also restated the global talent shortages which have hit the highest level in a decade globally. 

Francis Padamadan, Country Director, KellyOCG India shares, “While employers are grappling with a talent shortage, there are more passive job seekers than ever before. This situation is driving organizations to adopt digital processes. Interestingly, while many organizations are in the early stages of recruiting automation, some are already on the cutting edge. The survey shows that such vanguard organizations or innovators experience fewer hiring challenges than organizations with more traditional approaches.”

Following are the key insights from the report:

Hiring Challenges: 

The survey found that 40 percent of employers worldwide reported greater difficulty in hiring the right people which the highest level in the last ten years. Hiring for in-demand skills is the most critical challenge as per 42 percent of the employers surveyed.

Hiring Technologies:

• Presently, employers are using technologies like Applicant Tracking System (ATS), Candidate Relationship Management (CRM), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and backend automation to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of recruitment process.
• The report highlighted that one in five organizations intend using AI and automation in the next two years.
• Further, Mobile-based ATS is becoming an essential technology for organizations as one-third of the job seekers, worldwide have searched for a job through their mobile devices.
• The report also highlighted the increased use of Chatbots which is playing a major role in tactical work like recruiting concierge, bot-run interview prep class, talent community management and responses to candidates. Another technology which has found large-scale adoption is live digital interviewing. 46 percent of those surveyed say they will use live digital interviewing in the next few years. 

Candidate Experience:

Enhanced candidate experience is also boosting the digital adoption.  According to the survey results, 47 percent of vanguard organizations say they see an increase in the number of applications and candidate satisfaction. 

Importance of Human touch:

The survey showed that 77 percent of job applicants prefer human interaction during their job hunt. By assigning low-level tactical work to machines, recruiters gain time for more meaningful conversations with target candidates.