Tech Companies: Is Your Talent Acquisition Program Ready for Anything?

To promote sustainable growth, tech companies need to attract, hire, and retain top talent. Employing artificial intelligence (AI) in talent acquisition can help.

Tech talent leaders are no strangers to dealing with uncertainty. Over the last few years, you’ve grappled with a global pandemic, accelerated trends toward remote and hybrid work, and whiplash-inducing changes in the macroeconomy – and that’s just scratching the surface.

Even amid uncertain times, the tech space isn’t slowing down. Case in point: 174 companies in the U.S. reached unicorn status in 2022, meaning they’re valued at more than $1 billion.

Whether it’s fallout from a pandemic, rapid growth, or anything in between, during times of uncertainty it’s important to lean into what you can control. For you, that’s optimizing talent acquisition to support the future of your business.

So, what can you do now to strengthen your talent management program amid the latest wave of uncertainty?

The Need for Uncertainty-Proof Talent Acquisition

Finding workers with the skills you need may become an existential challenge for tech companies. Korn Ferry’s 2022 Future of Work: The Global Talent Crunch research has found that globally, there could be more than 85 million unfilled jobs by 2030 because there won’t be enough skilled workers to fill them.

And attracting those workers will require new approaches. According to Indeed and Glassdoor’s Hiring and Workplace Trends 2023 report, “A tight labor supply and workers’ preferences will ensure remote work will persist for some jobs. Employers also benefit – remote work offers expanded talent pools.”

How Two Tech Companies Leveled Up Their Talent Acquisition

Spotify summed up the challenge of talent acquisition in uncertain times in a blog post, saying, “The waves of hiring ebb and flow, and the conditions change on a moment’s notice.” To deal with waves of change more effectively, Spotify prioritizes alignment and collaboration between talent acquisition and human resources.

The company succeeded in quickly ramping up its workforce by solidifying a strong relationship between its TA and HR teams, while also investing in technology and processes to maximize results. With a tight connection across talent and HR, Spotify encouraged employees to help recruit talent with the requisite skills – a move that continues to be fruitful.

Fashion technology platform Zalando faced a similar situation during a recent period of rapid growth, and looked at talent acquisition as a key element of achieving the company’s objectives. Zalando took a hard look at the data and analytics surrounding its talent acquisition practices and quickly saw the need for an overhaul.

Zalando realized its applicant tracking system (ATS) filtered out 88% of all applications. Many of those that did make it through were subsequently filtered out by recruiters based on job descriptions. The company took measures to fine-tune its job descriptions by creating talent personas, as well as reducing its time to offer and time to hire.

The key to the company’s successful talent acquisition transformation was artificial intelligence (AI). Using AI-based scheduling automation helped Zalando reduce its time to schedule a first interview from 22 minutes to 44 seconds. In addition, AI helped the company reduce its days to offer from 52 to 32 and its candidate filter-out ratio from 88% to 71%. Zalando’s candidate Net Promoter Score (NPS) increased from -7 to +33, and its offer acceptance rose by 30%.

It All Comes Down to Data

More and more tech companies are looking to data and AI to improve their talent acquisition process and realize the outcomes they want to achieve.

Implementing an AI-driven Talent Lifecycle Management strategy can help you transition your talent acquisition practices from reactive to proactive, which is especially important when uncertainty rules the day. Because tech companies often need to move quickly, they don’t have any time to waste in attracting and hiring candidates with in-demand skills. In this scenario, data can make all the difference.

To get the most out of your talent data, it needs to be pooled in a single repository, cleaned, and maintained using a centralized talent data platform, backed by AI. When you have a single source of truth for your talent data, you are able to eliminate data silos and streamline the talent acquisition process across departments and locations.

This way, talent teams like yours can feel confident that you’re leaving no stone unturned and that you can support your business with smart talent acquisition decisions. Powered by AI, a talent management data platform can connect the dots between candidates’ previous experience and needed skills at your organization so that you can quickly find and hire the top talent your company needs. And in the process, you may add some much-needed certainty to your team’s operations.

Learn how Beamery can help your TA teams to hire quality talent more efficiently.