APRIL 9 — In more recent years, organisations are increasingly adopting AI in their recruitment process. This is due to the ability of AI to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and fairness during the stages of the hiring process. However, the implications and effects of the adoption of AI towards job seekers remains challenging for both employers and employees.
Although there are several benefits of AI for employers such as automation of repetitive tasks and enhanced decision-making, the benefits for the perspective of job seekers towards these AI technologies remains unknown and less publicised.
Job seeker’s perspective is important to consider in any recruitment process. AI-enabled recruitment influences their job-seeking decisions and their assessment performance such as psychometric test, interviews, and cognitive evaluation exercise. It is hoped that possessing a deeper understanding on the perspective of job seekers will enable more efficient and fairer recruitment process for the job market these days.
Nonetheless, there is a rising concern on the technology-related issues from AI-enabled recruitment process. So much has been said about the influence of technology for organisations, yet the trends are vastly changing. One of the factors that poses as challenge to job seekers is, as mentioned earlier, the technology-related anxiety. This is due to the little transparency in AI making its decisions which results in job seekers feeling disconnected. Job seekers have also expressed stress when interacting with AI chatbots as it lacks empathy of human interactions. Furthermore, there are concerns regarding the accuracy and fairness of AI in determining the competency of an individual. Hence, the anxiety and stress resulting from the interaction of AI may deter job seekers from engaging with AI tools thereby reducing their career prospects.
The implementation of AI in human resources (HR) and from the perspective of job seekers remain limited especially in Malaysia. The current situation which is happening in the industry necessitates the need for more understanding on AI recruitment that are more localised which consider the cultural and economic contexts of different areas and regions.
According to the author, the implementation of AI in human resources (HR) and from the perspective of job seekers remain limited especially in Malaysia. — Unsplash pic
Hence, attempts to understand the perception of job seekers on AI in the recruitment as well as its factors that influence AI tools adoption in the job seeking process plays a vital role in creating awareness of AI in recruitment. There should be attempts to address gaps and provide insights to AI technology developers and HR practitioners.
Roles of AI
The adoption of AI tools in the job seeking process is becoming trendier, especially within a rapidly digitising global workforce. As organisations are incorporating AI technologies to streamline recruitment processes, understanding the factors that influence their adoption becomes essential to maximise user engagement and satisfaction.
The role of facilitating conditions plays an impact in driving adoption intentions. In a larger context, it is suggested that organisations that aim to introduce AI solutions should ensure robust support systems including technical assistance, user friendly interfaces and comprehensive onboarding processes. Global trends where infrastructure investments are made for digital tools have indicated higher technology acceptance in various studies.
Technology anxiety and self-efficacy are the psychological factors of the framework that significantly influenced the job seeker’s willingness to adopt AI tools. New strategies should be created to address hesitance towards new technologies while also encouraging confidence in their availabilities at the same time.
Similar challenges were noted in adopting new technologies such as AI-driven healthcare and education tools in previous studies. However, targeted interventions such as training programmes and interactive learning has been proven effective to address this. It also important to highlight the universal importance of addressing emotional and psychological barriers to ensure equity in technology access.
Finally, inclusivity should be a core focus in the design of AI tools to make sure the facilities are accessible to users with different states of technological readiness. Multilingual support, visual aids, and simplified navigation can help make these platforms more approachable. Better designed AI tools would increase the confidence of job seekers to incorporate it into their job seeking process.
Additionally, subjective norms could be leveraged to influence job seekers to adopt AI. This can be done through showcasing endorsements by previous job applicants. By doing so, job seekers would be influenced to use the AI tool and encourage the adoption of AI for job seekers. For instance, ChatGPT is a popular AI tool that can be used to prepare and improve resume.
By addressing these managerial implications, organisations can create user centric AI tools that effectively meet the needs of job seekers, promoting broader adoption and long term user satisfaction.
It is hoped that the role of AI is just facilitating the human recruitment to be faster and accurate. Never should it be intended to replace the uniqueness and experience that potential employee would bring to the organisations, let alone fake the intelligence of human.
* Prof Dr Noor Ismawati is a Professor at the Department of Decision Science, Faculty of Business and Economics, Universiti Malaya, and can be reached at [email protected]
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
