This 2024-25 HR.com research report analyzes AI and recruitment technologies’ current state and future, surveying 237 HR professionals globally.

Key findings reveal a growing adoption of AI in recruitment and concerns about bias and depersonalization. The report compares organizations with strong versus weak technology stacks, showing significant differences in AI usage, metric effectiveness, and hiring success rates. Furthermore, it explores various recruitment technologies, advertising channels, and communication methods, offering strategic recommendations for improvement.

Finally, the report highlights the importance of candidate experience and the need for upskilling HR teams to leverage these advancements effectively.

Key themes:

• Talent acquisition technology stacks: While organizations have progressed in improving their recruitment technology stacks, significant room for growth remains. Only 45% of respondents rate their stack as good or excellent, highlighting a need for continued investment and optimization.
• Effectiveness of recruitment metrics: Many organizations struggle to effectively measure key metrics. At the same time, retention and quality of hire receive relatively high ratings, cost per hire, and candidate experience measurement lag behind. The report emphasizes the importance of establishing and tracking meaningful metrics to demonstrate the value of the talent acquisition function.
• The rise of AI in recruitment: The adoption of AI in talent acquisition has significantly increased, with 53% of organizations now utilizing AI tools. However, concerns persist regarding depersonalization, bias, and potential discrimination. The report recommends implementing safeguards, training recruiters, and fostering transparency to mitigate these risks.
• Mobile recruiting imperative: Optimizing the recruitment process for mobile devices is crucial in today’s smartphone-centric world. Only half of organizations have fully embraced mobile-friendly applications, potentially missing out on many candidates.
• Future trends and recommendations: The report anticipates continued growth in AI applications, enhanced recruitment technologies, and a greater emphasis on candidate experience. It advocates for strategic investment in technologies, upskilling recruitment teams, and leveraging data-driven insights to navigate the evolving talent acquisition landscape.

Important findings and quotes:

• Talent acquisition technology adoption: “Only two TA technologies are used by over half of respondents: applicant tracking system (66%) and employment hiring platforms (64%).” This highlights the prevalence of these core technologies and the opportunity for broader adoption of other tools.
• Effectiveness disparity: “There’s a disconnect between the most widely used advertising methods and perceived effectiveness… company website (32%) and job boards (53%).” This suggests evaluating and refining advertising strategies to ensure optimal results.
• Regrettable hires: “Just 24% would rehire at least 90% of the employees they hired in the last year.” This underscores the ongoing challenge of making quality hires and the need for improved recruitment processes.
• AI benefits and concerns: “The top five benefits of using AI in recruitment are… converting job descriptions into job advertisements (49%), improved candidate experiences (37%), efficient screening of applicants (37%), better access to the entire pipeline of candidates (37%), automated recruitment processes (37%).” However, “The top concerns cited about the use of AI in recruitment are depersonalization (56%), vulnerability to bias (53%), liability to unintentional discrimination (47%).” This duality necessitates a balanced approach to AI implementation, maximizing benefits while mitigating risks.
• Recruitment technology leaders vs. laggards: “When compared to those with relatively less capable TA technology stacks, those with more capable TA technology stacks are 33X more likely to use AI for predictive analytics… almost 5X more likely to rehire more than 90% of their past year’s hires… over 2X more likely to measure the quality of hire successfully.” This stark contrast emphasizes the advantages of investing in and effectively utilizing robust recruitment technology.
• Future focus: “Organizations will most likely look for the following TA tools and technologies over the next two years: candidate experience (67%), analytics and tracking (63%), identification of the best candidates (57%), recruitment speed (54%).” This highlights the key priorities shaping the future of talent acquisition technology.