Why Talent Acquisition Teams Need (Unified) Skills Data

Recruiting is getting harder. Roles are changing faster than job descriptions can keep up, while Talent Acquisition teams are expected to hire faster with fewer resources. And the talent market is getting more competitive – 83% of Talent Acquisition leaders report struggling to find enough people with the right skills (Gartner). 

You don’t just need more candidates – you need quality candidates, and they have skills that weren’t really around a few years ago. More than 10% of professionals hired today have job titles that didn’t even exist in 2000 – and, by 2030, 70% of the skills used in most jobs will change. 

To find the skilled talent needed, recruiters need more than disconnected job reqs and keyword-stuffed résumés. They need visibility into the skills the business actually needs; into the capabilities your workforce already has; into where the gaps really are.

That starts with unifying your workforce data.

Why recruiters struggle to see the full picture 👀

The truth is, most of the information recruiters need is already inside the organization – it’s just stuck in silos.

• Skills data lives in job descriptions, ATS notes, learning systems, performance reviews, and résumés.
• Candidate data is often filtered crudely, or surfaced through keyword matches, not meaningful skills comparisons.
• Meanwhile, internal mobility platforms might show who’s available, but not always what they’re capable of.

Recruiters have a ton of data, but they are struggling to analyze it manually – and they still can’t always trust what’s in front of them.

How do you unify workforce data? 🔗

Unifying workforce data doesn’t mean rebuilding your tech stack. It means connecting the systems you already use – like your ATS, HRIS, and CRM – and adding a layer of AI-powered skills intelligence to turn that scattered data into insights.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

1. Select a common framework

It’s easiest to start by defining a common language for skills across your organization – not just within Talent Acquisition. This means adopting a skills and tasks taxonomy that aligns to your roles, workforce strategy, and industry. Make sure it can evolve – so you can easily incorporate emerging skills without overhauling everything.

This framework is what allows you to compare candidates, roles, and internal talent fairly and effectively. AI can help you here: Through analyzing unstructured data sources such as résumés and job adverts, AI can infer, normalize, and structure skills data automatically into a useful framework that is tailored to your organization. 

AI can then also deliver skills-based profiles for talent, and skills-based descriptions for roles – so it becomes far easier to match people to opportunities. 

2. Connect your core HR systems

Next, centralize your skills and workforce data into a system that becomes your single source of truth. That should probably be your HCM platform (like SAP or Workday), and you can use a dedicated “workforce intelligence layer” that helps you integrate AND enrich all your existing workforce data sources.

Think of it as building the nervous system: connecting your ATS, CRM, learning systems, and performance tools so skills data flows freely between them.

“Skills intelligence is an evolution of core HR data. We see skills as the next layer of maturity in our talent acquisition function, driving the evolution of how we identify and attract talent.” – Art Lokerson, HR Product Management Director – Talent Acquisition, Wells Fargo

3. Enrich and contextualize data

External labor market data helps you understand how roles and skills are evolving, benchmark candidates more accurately, and stay ahead of industry shifts. With the connection of internal data about people and jobs, and external market trend information, recruiters can prioritize the right recruitment marketing channels, adjust salary bandings, and refine job requirements based on market realities.

AI can also enrich candidate profiles by inferring missing information and identifying adjacent skills, so you can see who might be a good hire for the future – able to quickly learn the skills needed as workforce requirements change over time. 

4. Surface actionable insights for recruiters

Once your skills data is unified and enriched, recruiters can embrace the skills-first approach that so many of them feel is out of reach: Nearly 40% of TA professionals acknowledge the value of skills-based hiring, in a Korn Ferry study – yet only 17% feel ready to implement it.

• Automatically generate skills-based job templates
• Search for candidates (internal or external) by skills – not just titles
• See skills adjacencies and growth potential, not just past experience
• Spot internal candidates with the capabilities to grow into a role

It’s not just about better data: it’s about making better decisions, faster.

From guesswork to great hires ✅

Consider the recruiter asked to hire a Data Privacy Analyst. It’s a newly created role, and the Job Description is a mess of buzzwords. Traditionally, this would mean days of back-and-forth with hiring managers, a long job post review process, and dozens of irrelevant applicants.

But with unified skills data, Talent Acquisition professionals can: 

• Generate a skills-based job description based on similar roles that already exist internally – and the relevant skills from the wider industry 
• Get a shortlist of external candidates based on actual skills match – not keyword overlap
• Identify internal candidates with relevant adjacent skills from past projects or certifications
• Confidently present qualified candidates, backed by data the hiring manager trusts.

That’s what skills intelligence looks like in action.

Unified data = faster hiring, better fits 💗

Recruiters don’t just need more tools – they need connected insights that reduce the noise and spotlight the right talent.

When your workforce data is unified, and your skills intelligence is working for you (not buried in a spreadsheet or 15 different systems) you can:

• Fill roles faster
• Reduce time spent on screening
• Match candidates to roles more accurately
• Tap into internal talent with confidence
• Keep up with skills market shifts, automatically

Want to learn more? Our new report How To Unify Your Workforce Data explores how teams can reduce time-to-hire, improve fit, and unlock the full potential of tech investments, with a new approach to connected skills intelligence.