AI IN RECRUITMENT

Artificial intelligence has already become an established tool in many areas of everyday life. Now, it is starting to play a more significant role in the workplace, too. It has a wide variety of possible uses, particularly in the complex and lengthy process of recruitment. But what are these uses and are any Swiss companies taking advantage of them yet?


 

In order to discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used in recruitment, we first need to understand – at least in basic terms – what AI is. In this instance, ‘AI’ refers to a computer programme or system that is capable of performing tasks that would usually require human-level intelligence. With the help of algorithms, AI can identify specific patterns within enormous amounts of data, use these to generate predictions and then, based on its findings, interact with its environment1. Thanks to these ‘abilities’, AI holds a great deal of potential in the area of recruitment.

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Using AI in recruitment

Here are a few examples of how AI could be used in future – or, in some case, is already being used – to aid recruitment processes:

• Identifying talent: AI can search career platforms for suitable candidates based on predefined criteria, and even make initial contact if necessary.
• Analysing and preselecting CVs: When analysing CVs, the AI can use predefined criteria or keywords to search and pre-sort candidates. This can be useful for recruiters, especially if they are dealing with large numbers of CVs, as it saves them from having to check each one individually.
• Chatbots: Chatbots answer questions from applicants. This AI-based tool is very useful, especially for frequently asked questions.
• Optimising job adverts: AI can analyse job adverts and identify potential areas for optimisation. To do so, the AI can also take into account budgets, content, current trends, etc.
• Optimising campaigns: Similarly, AI can also analyse and optimise campaigns related to talent acquisition.
• Analysing video interviews: AI can also be used for video interviews, as it can detect and analyse the applicant’s voice, language, gestures and facial expressions. This provides recruiters with valuable insights that they might otherwise have missed.
• Assessment centres: Companies can use AI to evaluate tests and tasks in order to simplify the selection process.
• Online application forms: AI can be used to filter information from application forms in order to help recruiters select suitable candidates.

Opportunities and risks

AI can save time and money, boost a company’s chances of finding suitable candidates and complete certain tasks to speed up the application process. Some experts even believe that the use of AI in the selection process may reduce recruiters’ tendency towards bias, for example, in the form of an unconscious preference for – or aversion to – certain characteristics.

But it is precisely in this area that AI also reaches its limits; after all, AI is programmed by humans and based on data collected by humans. This means that if the underlying data already contains discriminatory patterns, the AI will not recognise them as such, but will instead reproduce them. Incomplete or inaccurate datasets and programming errors may also have a negative impact on the process.

Of course, there are also fears that AI will remove all human involvement from the application process.

Use of AI in Swiss HR departments

Media research and a survey by AlgorithmWatch revealed that most large companies in Switzerland do not use AI-based tools for their recruitment processes, or only to a very limited extent.  For example, according to their own reports, Swisscom, Coop and Nestle do not currently use any AI at all in their recruitment processes.2

The companies that have made the most progress in this respect are those in the pharmaceutical industry, such as Roche and Novartis, which already use AI-based tools at least in certain areas. Some other well-known companies are also toying with the idea of using artificial intelligence to optimise their recruitment processes in future. Swiss Post, for example, is currently in the process of developing an AI-assisted screening concept, but intends to test the procedure very carefully first before using it in practice.

However, it is clear that artificial intelligence will not become widely used as a recruitment tool in Switzerland for a long time yet. This is due in particular to the risks outlined above, as well as a lack of experience and knowledge.

The Adecco Group and AI

The Adecco Group has already made some initial headway with the use of AI, especially Gen AI (generative AI), and intends to continue driving these developments forwards. In this interview, Greg Shewmaker {{Link}}, Group SVP Global Operations, outlines the areas in which the Adecco Group is using AI in its recruitment processes, and what he believes are the greatest opportunities and risks associated with this new tool.

Understanding AI as a tool

AI and algorithms should be regarded as a tool that can be used to support and optimise the recruitment process – but the human element should not be overlooked. The personal interaction between HR personnel and candidates remains irreplaceable. It seems it will take a long time before AI becomes an established tool in Swiss HR departments, but some companies are gradually starting to explore these new technologies and examine whether and how AI could benefit them in future.

1. Vgl. Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) • Definition | Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon / Was ist künstliche Intelligenz? | KI Definition | SAP News Center / Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) und maschinelles Lernen - Fraunhofer IKS (15. November 2023)
2. https://algorithmwatch.ch/de/ki-in-der-personalrekrutierung/ (15. November 2023)
3. https://www.inside-it.ch/wie-schweizer-hr-abteilungen-kuenstliche-intelligenz-einsetzen-20230613 (15. November 2023)

«In the next five years we will see Gen AI integrated into every aspect of our daily lives»

Read in the interview with Greg Shewmaker, Group SVP Global Operations, how the Adecco Group is preparing for this and in which areas artificial intelligence is already being used.

To the interview

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