60% of global recruiters experimenting with GenAI; 33% in India: LinkedIn

In the past, recruiters would use Boolean and manual searches or use filter after filter to narrow down their candidates on LinkedIn.

At least 60 percent of recruiting professionals globally and 33 percent in India are exploring, experimenting with, or actively integrating Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools as part of their hiring process, according to professional networking platform LinkedIn.

Human Resources (HR) and Talent Acquisition (TA) roles have grown in importance in the last few years. They have had to lead organisations through incredible transformations such as the pandemic and remote work, Hari Srinivasan, VP of Product at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, told Moneycontrol in an email interview.

The data that was shared is part of an upcoming LinkedIn report. In the past, recruiters would use Boolean and manual searches or use filter after filter to narrow down their candidates on LinkedIn. According to Srinivasan, they would spend hours manually searching for the right candidate.

Last year, LinkedIn launched its GenAI-powered ‘Recruiter 2024’ tool to “help recruiters find qualified candidates faster so they can focus on the most important, strategic work for their jobs like speaking to and building relationships with candidates”. LinkedIn will start ramping up to all Asia Pacific (APAC) customers in English-speaking markets in February 2024.

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“With just one click, premium subscribers can see if a job is right for you based on your skills and experience," Srinivasan said. It will show users how to tailor their profile to stand out, and help them learn about the company and the industry, he added.

The new offering has insights from more than 1 billion professionals, 67 million companies, and 41,000 skills on the LinkedIn platform. Although LinkedIn did not reveal the average time saved by recruiters, Srinivasan said that last year, 74 percent of recruiters said the tool “saves them time”.

In an earlier survey titled ‘The Future of Recruiting 2023’, 68 percent of hirers surveyed in February 2023 said they were “very hopeful” or “cautiously optimistic” about the impact of GenAI on recruiting. Further, 59 percent of recruiters anticipated that the use of GenAI would make it easier for them to engage candidates.

Moneycontrol earlier reported that HR leaders believe the biggest challenge for them is over-reliance on AI when it comes to hiring. They said AI should be limited to generating insights, discerning patterns and providing lead indicators into the hiring process, which can then be used to drive good judgement.

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‘Soft skills equally important’

Last year, Srinivasan said businesses grappled with a transformative shift as they incorporated AI technologies into their operations. As a result, LinkedIn saw a 21x increase in the share of global English-language job postings mentioning new AI technologies such as ChatGPT.

Skills for jobs continue to change quickly. In India, 62 percent of jobs stand to be disrupted or augmented by AI, a LinkedIn report revealed earlier.

However, the list of the top five skills hiring managers consider important features a combination of both hard and soft skills: problem-solving abilities (31 percent), AI skills (25 percent), critical thinking (22 percent), communication skills (21 percent) and IT & web skills (20 percent).

“While technology knowhow empowers us in an AI-driven world of work, it's interpersonal skills–the ability to communicate, collaborate, and empathise–that often allow us to be successful. Companies must prioritise equipping their workforce with both technological acumen and essential soft skills, in preparation for a future where seamless collaboration with AI tools becomes the norm,” Srinivasan said.

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