IrishJobs has published new research that reveals more than 1 in 4 (28%) of employers in Ireland have introduced artificial intelligence (AI) to their recruitment processes.
The IrishJobs AI & Recruitment Report surveyed recruitment decision-makers in 250 businesses across Ireland.
The research reveals the rapidly growing impact of AI tools and technologies on the recruitment landscape in Ireland. Findings show that more than half (56%) of firms that have introduced AI to recruitment have done so in the past 12 months.
Medium-sized businesses, organisations employing 151-250 people, have the highest levels of AI adoption in recruitment (38%), indicating their status as early adopters of the technology. Only 13% of small businesses have incorporated the technology in recruitment.
Sentiment towards AI in recruitment is broadly positive across Irish businesses. 37% of recruiters are optimistic about the technology and its capacity to enable them to do their job better. While half of recruiters (50%) are unsure about the future impact of the technology, there are indicators that this is likely to quickly change as more employers advance their AI knowledge and skills base.
Commenting on the research findings, Sam Dooley, Country Director of The Stepstone Group Ireland with responsibility for IrishJobs, said:
“The IrishJobs AI and recruitment survey provides important insights into how AI is transforming the recruitment sector, as well as the attitudes and actions of recruiters as they seek to keep pace with advances in innovation. While we’re still at an early stage of the lifecycle of AI, it’s clear from our findings that the technology is having a significant impact on how employers attract and recruit potential talent – more than 1 in 4 organisations in Ireland are already leveraging the technology to drive change.”
Automating recruitment tasks
Employers using AI report a wide range of hiring benefits. 56% of recruiters highlight the technology’s positive impact on hiring more suitable candidates, while 39% state it has resulted in a faster hiring process. Improving the candidate experience (38%) is another widely reported benefit of the technology.
Sending reminders (42%) and tracking candidate application status (42%) are the top ways in which organisations are using AI to automate the recruitment process. Using AI to schedule job interviews (39%) is another one of the most common areas where the technology is being leveraged to increase efficiencies.
While most organisations leveraging AI use a combination of manual and automated methods, a sizable number are already relying on AI alone for key hiring processes. This growing trend is evidenced by the finding that nearly 1 in 5 (19%) of businesses use AI alone to develop job adverts.
Adapting recruitment processes
Findings also shine a light on growing tools among jobs candidates. Nearly 1 in 3 (32%) of recruiters are aware of jobseekers using AI technologies during the hiring process.
In response, employers are adapting their recruitment processes to increase their methods of evaluation. 71% of employers who are aware of candidates using AI have increased their focus on interview evaluation to ensure a more holistic candidate assessment. 39% of employers have introduced AI content detection software into their processes, while 20% have increased levels of candidate testing.
Impact of AI
The early impact of AI on increasing efficiencies in recruitment has been mixed. 51% of recruiters state that it has made their job easier, while 46% say it has made their job more complicated. The positive impact of AI on recruitment is highest among medium-sized businesses (71%).
The significant differences in benefits attributed to AI may be due to limited levels of knowledge around the technology. 49% of recruiters have a poor understanding of how to integrate the technology into their business, with 1 in 4 (25%) stating they have no knowledge of how AI can be leveraged. 29% of recruiters report a good understanding of how AI can be used in hiring operations.
Dooley continued, “Our findings reveal that medium-sized businesses are the early leaders in the AI recruitment race. This may be attributed to their lower barriers to the adoption of new technologies. However, we anticipate that larger enterprises will quickly make up ground over the next year or two and may in fact be the long-term beneficiaries of the technology due to the large volumes of internal data they can use to train AI models and tools.
“From improving candidate quality to faster hires, organisations are realising a wide range of hiring benefits from the technology. However, many firms are still at an early stage on their AI journey, with a lack of understanding and difficulties using AI tools some of the primary concerns of recruiters around the technology. Addressing this knowledge gap and developing AI skills across HR teams should be a priority for every business to ensure they can fully harness the power of the technology in recruitment.
“Our findings also revealed a growing number of jobseekers using AI tools during the recruitment process. As more jobs candidates experiment with these tools, it is unsurprising to see employers put an increased emphasis on more personal evaluation methods, such as interviews, to get more comprehensive insights on candidate performance earlier in the hiring process.”