Leaders Turn to AI, Skills-Based Hiring to Tackle Talent Shortages: Randstad

Talent leaders are recognizing technology’s crucial role in finding and keeping employees, with many investing particularly in AI solutions. Almost all (97%) of the 1,000+ C-suite and talent leaders surveyed for Randstad’s latest Talent Trends report note that adopting technology has improved talent attraction, engagement, and retention at their company. This is up 8% from last year and marks the highest percentage in the nine-year history of the report.

AI search and match had the highest growth rate among technology investments this year, with 66% investing in this technology, a 14% jump from last year. Despite concerns like reduced human touch (34%) and irresponsible use of AI technology (32%), most leaders agree on AI’s benefits, including finding needs and gaps in their workforce (78%) and identifying opportunities for internal mobility (78%). 

Outside of technology, some of the top challenges talent leaders are anticipating include more competition for hard-to-find skills (34%) and specialty skills becoming more scarce (32%). Nearly three in four leaders (72%) say the skills gap at their organization is increasing, the highest percentage since 2019. So it’s not surprising that 80% of surveyed companies are moving to a skills-based hiring model. Yet only 21% have taken a foundational step in this direction by building a skills ontology. 

Many leaders are already adopting a skills-first approach to assessing candidates, valuing factors like the potential to learn to grow (83%), intellectual or personality traits (80%), and personal motivations and aspirations that align with the role (80%) ahead of industry experience and college degrees.

Other highlights of the 2024 report include: 

• Almost half (48%) of talent leaders aim to improve or expand their DEI initiatives, while one in 10 plan to reduce their focus on DEI efforts. 
• A quarter (25%) of surveyed leaders want to increase their investment in how they communicate strong company values and their value proposition to employees. 
• More than half (64%) are feeling pressured to do more with less this year.

See the full report for more of 2024’s top talent trends.