While the vast majority of companies surveyed for a recent ManpowerGroup report are using AI for talent acquisition, the technology is having a smaller impact than expected and leading to new problems.
The Milwaukee-based global employment agency’s Talent Solutions division yesterday released “The New Talent Equation: Building Better Talent Decisions,” which was commissioned from the research firm Everest Group.
It found more than 90% of surveyed businesses are using AI for acquiring talent, but fewer than 5% report “transformational” outcomes from the technology.
Report authors argue AI is being “over-leveraged” for time-intensive work such as screening and reaching out to candidates, while more valuable business functions like long-term planning and decisionmaking are still heavily dependent on human judgment.
“Operations expect AI to improve efficiency, decision quality, workforce agility, and strategic capacity,” they wrote. “In practice, most deployments deliver operational efficiency gains, while improvements in decision quality and strategic outcomes remain limited.”
The report found most companies are layering AI onto existing hiring systems rather than totally redesigning their hiring approach around it. Authors say that is leading to fragmented adoption and limiting broader impact.
“Most organizations changed the tools without changing the hiring model,” they wrote. “This leads to inconsistent usage, limited trust, and under-realization of value despite the presence of AI capabilities.”
Meanwhile, more than half of those surveyed said “AI-assisted” applications from job candidates are making it harder to accurately assess their skills. As this trend inevitably continues, employers face a “growing challenge” with determining applicants’ true ability, according to the report.
Caroline Pfeiffer Marinho, global senior vice president for Talent Solutions, says translating AI into meaningful outcomes is “far less consistent” than the widespread adoption seen across various industries.
“What the research makes clear is that the constraint is no longer access to AI tools,” she said in a statement. “It is how talent operations are designed around them.”
The survey tapped 80 respondents in the United States and United Kingdom, including C-suite executives, human resource officers and senior directors involved with talent acquisition. Represented industries included healthcare, life sciences and medical devices, manufacturing, and technology and IT.
