Sean Behr is an experienced executive, entrepreneur, investor and advisor. He is the CEO of Fountain, a high-volume hiring platform.
Hourly workers keep the world moving. They make our coffee, clean our buildings and haul our packages across the country so we get them on time. These pillars of our economy often face a technological disadvantage when applying for jobs that hinge on tech-dependent hiring processes. After all, application processes for hourly roles look a little different.
And while AI has taken the corporate world by storm in recent months—promising to help companies reduce the time and costs associated with filling roles—it brings to light the question of equity and accessibility. If these 82.3 million hourly workers don’t have the means to apply for certain jobs, can hiring really be considered a fair practice? And even for those who can navigate today’s hiring processes, how can recruiters ensure the process is free from bias and discrimination?
Using AI to screen job applicants, for example, might inadvertently create a barrier for hourly workers who don’t have access to the technology or the technical skills to move through advanced applicant tracking systems.
I’m going to break down the issues concerning ethics and accessibility of technology, specifically artificial intelligence, and reveal how recruiters can bridge the gap in hiring equity.
How To Reap The Benefits Of AI While Maintaining Ethical Standards
The best approach to adopting AI as part of your hiring funnel is to see it as a tool to augment human actions, rather than a replacement for your team of recruiters. As a hiring tool, AI has the power to slash hiring time, freeing up recruiters’ schedules so they can focus on other things that technology has yet to master, like performing one-to-one interviews with candidates.
AI also helps increase efficiency and recruiter productivity, while enhancing the applicant experience by automating forward movement through the funnel. These benefits can be transformational for hiring teams and create a more hands-off process.
But even with boundless automation, recruiters still need to pay close attention to make sure quality candidates don’t slip through the cracks due to faulty filtering configurations. More importantly, they need to conduct frequent audits to ensure the potential for bias and discrimination is practically nonexistent.
According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center, 47% of respondents said AI could do a better job than humans at evaluating job applicants equally.
While these may be the beliefs of some, recruiting teams would be better off employing a hybrid system, pairing AI with human interaction to make certain the technology is operating fairly. This initially may require more of a time commitment on the part of recruiters, but it’s a key step to help talent acquisition teams build an equitable system.
Why Accessibility To Technology Is Essential For All Workers
Although AI can help reduce bias in the hiring process by qualifying candidates based on their skills, qualifications and experience, rather than demographic factors like gender and race, the use of the technology is irrelevant if your ideal applicants don’t have the means to apply.
There are millions of hourly workers in the U.S. workforce who apply, are screened and are hired very differently from their corporate counterparts.
For example, applicants for hourly jobs typically want to start working as soon as possible and expect employers to meet this urgency with a fast hiring process. But in order for this to happen, these applicants need to be able to apply in the first place, a process that has shifted from pen-and-paper applications to tech-leading applicant tracking systems (ATSs).
Hourly workers may not have access to desktop computers or smartphones, which are where most modern job applications live. They also may not always have the luxury of time to spend completing a job application.
Applicants are applying to multiple jobs at the same time, and research from Appcast shows that a staggering 92% of applicants abandon online job applications, potentially due to their length and complexity. This limits access to job opportunities, which can deny certain populations the opportunity to contribute to society and provide for themselves and their families.
To expand access to opportunities in the wake of fast-moving technology, companies that hire hourly workers need to make sure their target applicants have access to and are able to complete the job applications of today.
How To Bridge The Technology Gap For Hourly Workers
Organizations have the ability to close this gap and make applying for hourly jobs easy and accessible for all workers using some of the strategies below.
Mobile Compatibility
For applicants who do have smartphones, a simplified, mobile-optimized application that doesn’t require login credentials and doesn’t ask applicants to upload or copy/paste a resume can help workers of all technological proficiencies access and apply for jobs. For applicants who don’t have smartphones, recruiters should look into enabling a text-to-apply functionality to open the application to an even wider pool.
User-Friendly Interfaces And Intuitive Applications
We may be up to speed on the latest smartphone and operating system updates, but that doesn’t mean every worker is on the same level. Whatever application interface you use, make sure it’s easy to follow, the directions are clear and candidates are informed when their applications have been submitted.
Language Inclusivity And No Potential For Bias
When writing job descriptions and fine-tuning the user experience of your job application, use inclusive, accessible language to help applicants feel confident and comfortable about applying to your job.
Conclusion
As hiring technology careens forward, we must do everything in our power to ensure none of our applicants are left behind. This is not a solitary function concentrated on one department; collaboration is a cornerstone of achieving organizationwide equity.
Together, we can build a more equitable workforce that creates opportunities for workers of all backgrounds, capabilities and technological aptitudes.
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