Employers are currently facing a hiring crisis as U.S. companies continue to add hundreds of thousands of positions every month while 11 million jobsOpens a new window remain open, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics. While hiring conversations today are centered around HR departments, developers are the muscle behind hiring as they build and implement technologies to meet new demands and improve processes. As a result, technology is leading the trajectory of the hiring ecosystem as new capabilities unlock possibilities for both employers and candidates.Â
To keep up with the current surge in hiring, employers have turned to HR technology companies to streamline operations and drive efficiency. By deploying technology to create a seamless candidate experience, organizations can quickly hire skilled candidates, and job seekers can easily go through the hiring process. As business demands and consumer expectations change, it is important to keep a pulse on the expected growth areas for HR tech.Â
So, What’s the Future of Tech-driven Hiring?
Over the past year and a half, the HR space has adapted to consistent change from the shift to remote work to unexpected hiring surges. This has created new challenges and opportunities for innovations. In response, technology companies in the HR space have been hyper-focused on crafting new capabilities while making processes more efficient, streamlined and optimized. So, what’s been the driving force of these innovations? Here are the three major HR technology trends to watch out for:
- Software as a service (SaaS): HR departments have a variety of moving parts, from regulatory compliance to onboarding processes to delivering employee benefits. SaaS tools are being developed to solve those needs because they allow teams to integrate their existing technology, easily adapt systems, and cut costs as no major overhead management is needed.
- Open application programming interfaces (APIs): The pandemic accelerated the digital transformation of the hiring market, and APIs have allowed HR tech to evolve with new business demands. Open APIs have been critical in propelling HR innovation by allowing developers to simplify integrations, easily personalize services and provide greater flexibility for future uses. In fact, 83% of tech specialists consider API integrations critical to their business according to the Cloud Elements studyOpens a new window .
As APIs help digitize the hiring process, they also allow the creation of a cohesive experience for hiring managers and candidates. This is especially important as there are many variables and steps in the hiring and recruitment process: a plethora of job posting sites, candidate vetting processes, communication systems for hiring teams and now online interviewing platforms. APIs allow employers to bring all these different processes into a single platform, saving time for the HR professional and cutting costs for the employer.
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI and ML): AI and ML are changing the game when it comes to removing bias and enhancing the hiring process’s speed, accuracy and compliance. For example, conducting background checks is a difficult process as different jurisdictions use different languages and classifications for the same crimes. Now employers can leverage machine learning to categorize criminal charges, simplifying and clarifying the background check results for the HR professional reviewing the candidate and reducing the likelihood of errors.
People will always be at the core of HR. But technology is critical to help businesses keep up with the market demand, improve the experience of candidates, and allow HR professionals to spend less time on administrative tasks. Business leaders are taking notice of this as more than one-third of respondents planned to increase their HR tech budgets last year, according to a Gartner study. As we continue to move further into the digital age, it is expected the newfound reliance on HR technology will be vital in creating a smarter, more efficient recruiting cycle and delivering the best candidate experiences.Â
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