Some of the largest employers in the world are increasingly, and in some cases controversially, relying on AI-based technologies to hire new workers. Companies like Tesla, Accenture and LinkedIn are using technology from Pymetrics to better vet qualified candidates and reduce the time and resources required for what has traditionally been a labor-intensive hiring process.
Pymetrics brands itself as the pioneer in using ethical AI for talent management. The company, which boasts more than 80 global clients, uses a blend of data science and I/O psychology to create its “people recommendation engine.” The Pymetrics platform is designed to improve employee retention while also increasing efficiency and diversity throughout the recruiting process. The technology translates into a 30-minute game-playing process through which job candidates complete brain tasks like puzzles and quizzes. The results are parsed by AI to generate measurements related to candidates’ problem-solving skills, ability to multitask and even their levels of altruism.
What is perhaps most interesting about the Pymetrics approach is that those results are then measured against those of a company’s top employees to determine how likely a candidate is to succeed in a specific role. Pymetrics promises a two-fold increase in candidate yield, a 75-percent reduction in hiring time, a 50-percent increase in employee retention and a 98-percent improvement in the candidate experience.
Companies are increasingly ditching the traditional resume and not relying on past experience in their hiring processes. Justin Yoshimura, CEO of CSC Generation, a company that focuses on saving failing retail businesses through proprietary technology and strategic team creation, told Inc. that his company is using its own algorithms to determine if candidates are a good fit. Those algorithms have nothing to do with past experience and everything to do with how “hungry” a candidate is. CSC’s vetting process includes creative and critical thinking questions, as well as traditional and non-traditional interview questions that are parsed by an AI-powered algorithm.
"With unemployment at record lows, the competition for top talent has literally never been greater,” said Yoshimura. “This has caused large companies to dramatically increase their compensation packages for 'obvious' candidates. As such, we realized we needed to be contrarian in our hiring practices -- finding and empowering the non-obvious candidates."
Companies like Delta, Hilton, IKEA and Urban Outfitters have turned to HireVue to streamline their hiring processes, somewhat controversially. HireVue’s platform also uses AI to vet candidates, but in a slightly different way. The technology employs face scanning and AI-driven assessments to rate candidates and rank them against other applicants by generating an employability score. The platform works by analyzing candidates’ facial movements using their computers or cellphone cameras, along with their word choices and speaking voices.
Critics have complained that HireVue’s technology is unfair to nonnative speakers, those who are nervous in front of a camera and others who don’t fit the AI-parsed hiring criteria. Last month the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a complaint asking the FTC to investigate the company’s business practices, arguing that the HireVue system employs unfair and deceptive trade practices and represents a wide-scale threat to U.S. workers.
The criticisms haven’t slowed the use of AI in hiring and more companies are turning to technology to find better and more qualified candidates while also increasing efficiencies and productivity throughout the hiring process.
For more discussion and information about how AI is impacting workplace of the future as well as the HR and hiring processes, TMC is hosting a Future of Work Expo in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The event, which will take place from February 12-14, 2020, will explore how AI and machine learning technologies are being used for customer service, communications and beyond throughout a host of vertical markets.
Edited by
Maurice Nagle
