The AI Revolution in Recruiting: How Automation Will Transform Hiring by 2030

Over the past two years, recruiters have felt the impact of automation and artificial intelligence. Many have been laid off, fewer are being hired or rehired, and tools are incorporating AI at a rapid pace. Will recruiting remain a viable profession? 

The answer is yes, with caveats. The development and growth of automated recruiting tools will continue and is not likely to completely replace recruiters, but it has changed the skills that recruiters need. The new breed of recruiters will need to be AI savvy, have excellent relationship and influencing skills, and understand and use sophisticated analytics.

AI-enabled tools will continue to augment the recruiting process, making it more efficient and requiring recruiters to develop new skills. Several tools already purport to automate a significant part of recruiting, especially for routine positions or those requiring only a basic skill level.

The pace of automation is accelerating, and advancements in AI's capability to reason and make judgments (for example, OpenAi’s newest version of ChatGPT) pose new challenges for traditional recruiters.

Here are my thoughts on the possible timeline for recruiting automation over the next 5-10 years:

• 2024-2026: We already see increased adoption of AI-powered tools for resume screening, candidate sourcing, and initial outreach. This trend will accelerate, with most large companies implementing some form of AI recruiting assistance.

Analytics will be used more extensively to improve employment branding and career sites, driving more qualified candidates to apply. For example, analytics can provide insights into how candidates interact with career sites, such as which pages they visit, how much time they spend, and where they drop off.