HireVue: Half of workers think AI could reduce bias in hiring

Job seekers are very worried about bias in the hiring process.

New UK and US data from hiring tech giant HireVue found that 85% of candidates acknowledge that bias in hiring is a problem.

The good news is that they believe that AI has the potential to fix this problem.

HireVue’s survey of 3,000 UK and US workers found that not only do 49% think AI could help the issue of bias and unfair treatment in hiring, a whopping 46% actually believe AI will be better than humans at being fair in the hiring process.

This feeds into a general employee view that AI will help more than it hurts them in a hiring process (25%), and the attitude that AI could improve the hiring experiences (50%).

As part of the same report, HireVue also surveyed 1,000 UK and US HR professionals and found that two in three are excited to use AI at work. 66% are actually more positive about AI now than a year ago.

HireVue found that three quarters of HR leaders are already using generative AI or plan to do so in the next year, with almost six in ten already using these AI tools at least every week, if not every day.

The main reasons for the optimism about AI from HR leader are the productivity benefits (41%) from using AI in candidate communications (31%), resume screening (27%) and assessments (27%).

Workers are also using AI themselves – to update resumes (53%), cover letters (46%) and prepare for an interview (42%).

Talking about the findings, HireVue’s Chief Data Scientist Dr Lindsey Zuloaga tells UNLEASH: “It was fantastic to see HR leaders and workers equally comfortable with AI’s role in completing repetitive recruitment tasks.

“The data suggests a shared understanding of how AI complements rather than replaces the human touch in hiring.”“The data suggests a shared understanding of how AI complements rather than replaces the human touch in hiring.”

Trust, transparency and AI in hiring

While HireVue’s data shows workers are happy for companies to use AI to remove the tedious, manual tasks in hiring, they remain concerned about AI being used without their knowledge.

79% of workers told HireVue that they want to know if AI is being used when they apply for the job – this is because they are concerned that AI is not as good as humans in seeing potential or identifying culture fit.

In this respect, AI can miss the ‘human factor’ of job applications, and this explains why under half of employees are happy for AI to make the final decision on hiring.

Three-quarters of employees did admit that the reason for this reluctance here is due a lack of understanding about how AI is actually used in hiring.

According to HireVue’s report, the takeaway for HR here is that transparency matters.

Dr Zuloaga added: “It’s always been important for candidates to understand how they’re being evaluated in the hiring process, but the widespread use of AI-backed tools makes it even more critical that companies are transparent about how decisions are made.Dr Zuloaga added: “It’s always been important for candidates to understand how they’re being evaluated in the hiring process, but the widespread use of AI-backed tools makes it even more critical that companies are transparent about how decisions are made.

“Leaders who err on the side of clear explainability about how AI is used will reap the benefits of these new technologies without sacrificing applicant satisfaction or causing undue concern about fairness.”