No matter how powerful, necessary and pure a river can be, a dam will have the strength to block even the most merciless torrent.

But dams are not always intentional - or even a good thing -. Far from the romantic stack of timbers made by beavers, 'accidental' dams are now made of the rubbish left behind by mankind. Even if not accidental, manmade dams can be as harmful if not worse for the environment: mass extinctions, hazard for the population, droughts... Dams have many cons stopping streams of water, i.e. the stream of life, from circulating.

The same goes on the path to full employment. Old systems and process are blocking the flow of job seekers, but also employers, to hire and be hired. To unlock and free this flow of potential employees and current employers, asking for nothing but to meet, Indeed introduces a new AI-powered solution to make hiring process faster

Inneficient and frustrating Process

The survey of 1,000 workers and 1,000 hiring professionals in the UK shows that the hiring process is inefficient and frustrating, with 63% of hiring professionals wanting to be more productive but 61% feeling like they’re wasting time. To tackle this, Indeed is introducing several new AI-powered products and features to make the hiring process faster, simpler and more efficient for both employers and job seekers.

With over 908,000 job vacancies in the UK, according to ONS data, and 53% of businesses saying they have ambitious hiring targets this year, the pressure is on. But, discovering quality candidates who are open to a new role can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack; in fact, 66% of hiring professionals discount some hiring sites for fear they won’t be able to find a pool of candidates who could be a good fit. And three in five lament that some platforms do have quality candidates but it's hard to find those who are open to new roles. It’s no surprise that 65% say that the lack of quality candidates is one of the biggest frustrations in their job.

Chaos and Blockage

This inefficiency means hiring professionals are spending precious time contacting unsuitable candidates. 62% of job seekers have been contacted for roles that aren’t right for them, while 66% say companies can do a better job of reviewing their skills and experience before reaching out. This exacerbates the poor response rate hiring professionals often receive, as on average, candidates only respond 40% of the time. Access to the right talent pool streamlines the hiring process for everyone.

In the past year alone, 32% of contacted candidates were unsuitable due to avoidable reasons such as location, qualifications or lack of interest in new opportunities. Meanwhile, an astounding 83% of job seekers say they’ve not had a response when they’ve applied for a job while almost 3 in 4 (72%) hiring managers admit to feeling guilty that they’ve not responded to applicants. This is having an impact on job seekers’ belief in finding the right role, with 41% saying not hearing back from employers significantly impacts confidence in their job search.

A Challenge but no Solution... Until now?

Despite the clear challenges faced by hiring professionals, only 32% of hiring managers say they have incorporated AI into their hiring process. Yet, 55% agree that an AI tool that helps with administrative tasks such as candidate outreach and messaging would significantly improve their productivity.

Hiring professionals believe that the use of AI will unlock several efficiencies, with 69% saying that an AI-driven candidate sourcing tool could help speed up the hiring process while almost half believe AI will help deliver more qualified candidates. A notable 44% also say AI will help to eliminate bias in hiring.

Making hiring faster by matching and connecting people with relevant jobs

To help make hiring more efficient, Indeed has unveiled Smart Sourcing, an AI-powered product that enables employers to source an active talent pool of nearly 300 million workers globally, based on profiles and CVs shared on Indeed. Their AI-powered matching engine instantly recommends the best candidates for a job based on an individual’s skills, experiences and qualifications. Employers can then quickly review matched candidates, directly connect with them, and ultimately hire faster.

Three key advantages to Smart Sourcing make it a uniquely powerful tool:

  • Access to a large, active talent pool: Smart Sourcing recommends and prioritises qualified candidates based on an employer’s unique job requirements, focusing on people who are actively looking for a new job, especially those active on Indeed over the past 30 days. In a survey of UK employers already using Smart Sourcing, 89% say it is their preferred product for finding active candidates. 80% report that Indeed has a larger pool of active candidates than other job sites.
  • Ability to easily discover and review relevant, quality candidates: Indeed provides a list of candidates matched to employers’ needs. This includes AI-powered candidate summaries with context on why someone is a good fit for a role, speeding up the evaluation process. Candidate summaries also explain why some candidates should not be overlooked. For example, having four years of experience when the job asks for five could be a negligible difference. Then, employers can easily invite qualified candidates to apply for their roles directly from the product. And when invited, these matched candidates are 31 times more likely to apply than if they found the job on their own.
  • AI-powered connections: Employers can quickly connect with qualified candidates by generating custom AI-powered messages based on their job criteria. Smart Sourcing is saving employers time—most say it provides the most effective way to communicate with candidates, while 74% of employers report it is the fastest way to make a quality hire.

There are exciting developments for job seekers too. Through an updated toggle within Indeed Profile, job seekers will soon be able to choose to make themselves visible to employers and available for outreach. This allows them to be considered and contacted for relevant jobs, bringing more opportunities directly to them.