While more than 90% of companies surveyed by ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions said they have used artificial intelligence tools for recruiting, fewer than 5% said they saw “transformational” outcomes on any key metrics, according to a report released by the company Tuesday.
ManpowerGroup and research firm Everest Group surveyed 80 C-suite, CHRO and senior talent acquisition leaders across the United States and the United Kingdom and found that AI was largely used for sourcing, resume screening and candidate engagement. Close to 4 in 10 of organizations said they saw “significant impact” on operational efficiency, but improvements to decision quality and workforce agility are “limited,” the report said.
Fragmented systems, isolated tools and siloed data are partly to blame, the report said.
“What the research makes clear is that the constraint is no longer access to AI tools. It is how talent operations are designed around them,” Caroline Pfeiffer Marinho, global senior vice president of Talent Solutions RPO and Right Management, said in a statement.
AI may be creating new problems that companies are not equipped to address. More than half of those surveyed said that candidate use of AI — such as AI-generated resumes, applications and interview prep — has made it harder to assess applicant capability.
Recruiters also have reported some overwhelm from applications received, which may be damaging talent acquisition processes, too, according to data from Indeed sent to HR Dive. According to a survey of 300 U.S. hiring managers employed by companies of 500 employees or more, 72% said they worry strong candidates are being lost in the volume of applicants they receive, while 1 in 5 said the number of applicants they receive for posted roles is “challenging or overwhelming.”
Perhaps in answer to this pressure, organizations are focusing on quick wins, ManpowerGroup’s results indicated. In exchange, employers are seeing faster hiring but “not smarter hiring decisions,” the report said.
“The conversation around AI transformation has largely focused on technology adoption. The research suggests the more significant challenge lies elsewhere,” Sailesh Hota, vice president of Everest Group, said in a statement. “As AI becomes embedded into workflows and decisions, organizations are discovering that adapting workforce models, leadership practices, and operating structures is proving equally important.”