Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technology are both used to help businesses operate more efficiently. Recruiters and other human resources (HR) decision-makers are overwhelmingly optimistic about the role of AI in the future of hiring. But what do they think about the increasing adoption of automation, which includes tools that can typically follow predetermined rules and instructions but can’t make decisions like AI?
Harris Poll conducted a survey of more than 500 employers and 200 job seekers and recent job-switchers in the U.S. to find out what they think. While overall sentiments about automation are generally positive, they also found that employers don’t always see eye to eye on its impact or where to use it — with differences by business size.
“While ‘automation’ is often grouped with AI, it’s important to recognize their distinctions,” says John Fox, VP of Product at Indeed. “Automation spans a broad spectrum of capabilities, one of which is aimed at relieving people of manual tasks, allowing them to prioritize what truly matters — human connection.”
Here’s what employers need to know about how decision-makers are using automation in their hiring today, what they see as the biggest benefits and what parts of the hiring process should stay human-driven.
Employers Spend Significant Resources on Basic Hiring Tasks
Talent shortages topped the list of challenges employers face in today’s hiring market (cited by 33%), followed by screening and assessment (28%) and candidates aligning with business needs (28%). On average, employers are still spending nearly half (45%) their time on tasks associated with hiring activities, including two of the most challenging stages of the hiring process: candidate sourcing and assessment.
Roughly 53% of employers say they spend at least six hours a week on candidate sourcing, and 22% of them spend more than 11 hours. Similarly, half of employers (50%) spend at least six hours a week on candidate assessment, and 15% say they dedicate more than 11 hours per week to the task.
Given the significant time investment, it’s no wonder employers welcome automation in hiring, as nearly nine in 10 (87%) view it as positive. In addition, 90% of employers agree that automating recruiting tasks and workflows could help them increase productivity, accelerate time-to-hire, reduce cost-per-hire and improve the overall candidate experience.
Opinions vary between larger and smaller employers, too. Enterprise organizations are more likely to have extremely positive views (47%) about automation in the hiring process compared to their medium-sized counterparts (32%). Larger organizations were also more likely to agree with the stated benefits of automation: 93%, compared to 82% of medium-sized employers.
Nearly three in four employers (72%) say they currently use some form of automation in their hiring process. And sole decision makers — those who don’t share hiring responsibilities with anyone else —- were more likely to be current users (76%), compared to 59% of primary decision makers.
Enhanced Efficiency Seen as the Greatest Benefit of Automation
A whopping 85% of employers feel that integrating automation in the hiring process has had a positive impact — and it’s fully 90% for those hiring for 50 or more open roles.
More than half of employers (52%) think the primary advantage of automation is efficiency, followed closely by time savings at 50%. From there, faster onboarding (43%), consistency in the hiring process (38%), reduced bias (37%) and data-driven insights (36%) round out the top perceived advantages.
Nearly half (49%) of employers ranked enhanced efficiency as having the greatest potential benefit to the hiring process. As for where in the hiring process automation might be most impactful, employers who already use automation in hiring say it’s in the stages of legal and compliance checks (24%) and cross-team collaboration (24%). Meanwhile, nearly half of employers who don’t currently use automation think it could be helpful for background checks and references (44%).
Perhaps even more notable is the complete lack of overlap in any of the top four answers from these two groups:
Stages of the hiring journey where automation is/could be most impactful
This might suggest that what employers need and what automation tools provide may not always fully align. As a result, employers should carefully choose hiring platforms that bridge the gap and emphasize innovation with a focus on making hiring simpler, faster and more human.
“Given the escalating competition to fill open positions, employers understand that job seekers prefer faster, more streamlined hiring processes, and automation is at the heart of providing this,” Fox says. “At Indeed, our unwavering commitment to innovation is what drives us to provide automated hiring tools for businesses of all sizes, turbocharging hiring speeds and fueling business growth.”
Automation Doesn’t Mean No Human Touch
While most employers are in favor of automating the hiring process, respondents also made it clear that the human element won’t — and shouldn’t — be removed from the process anytime soon.
While most employers are in favor of automating the hiring process, respondents also made it clear that the human element won’t — and shouldn’t — be removed from the process anytime soon.
When asked what aspects should remain human-driven, employers ranked final decision-making (45%), candidate interviews (39%) and personalized communication (36%) as the top three. Assessing candidate traits such as communication, collaboration, creativity and adaptability — soft skills that vary by individual — requires a certain level of expertise and nuance that would be lost in automation.
“Ultimately, [the candidate] will be working with humans, and to get the best assessment is to actually have real interaction,” notes one survey respondent.
Judging a candidate for cultural fit or add within the organization is another area where automation isn’t likely to be used “because only a human can truly assess these processes,” says another respondent. A basic appreciation for human connection and dignity also remains at the heart of recruiting for many employers, too.
“I think it means something to the candidate experience to have that human touch,” one employer states. “At the end of the day, we are still dealing with people, and [we] should understand and respect that.”
___________
Survey methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Indeed from September 11 to 26, 2023, among 731 adults ages 18 and older, among whom 530 employers (B2B) who are hiring decision-makers (sole or primary) at a company with 250+ employees and who have hired at least 2 or more open roles at their company in the past 12 months [80% of the employers were from enterprise organizations (defined as 1,001+ employees versus medium organizations defined as 251-1,000 employees] and 201 job seekers/switchers (B2C) who were employed full-time and actively looking for a full-time position in the next 6 months (job seekers) or have recently (in the last 3 months) switched jobs (job switchers). There is overlap among the seekers and switchers. The job seekers and switchers data are weighted where necessary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, household income and propensity to be online to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data for the employers is accurate to within +/- 4.2 percentage points using a 95% confidence level and ±10.8 percentage points for the job switchers or seekers. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact us at us_pr@indeed.com.
