Talent Acquisition Technology Ecosystem

Global

Staffing and Recruitment Technology

February 15, 2018 | David Francis, Research Manager | [email protected]

Talent Acquisition Technology Ecosystem | February 15, 2017

Contents Talent Acquisition Technology Ecosystem ...... 2 Overview of an Ecosystem ...... 3 Systems of Record ...... 8 Candidate Discovery ...... 10 Candidate Assessment ...... 14 Candidate Engagement ...... 15 Candidate Verification ...... 17

Talent Acquisition Technology Ecosystem Key Findings Talent acquisition technology can be grouped into five broad functions that mirror the candidate This report is an overview of hiring lifecycle. These functions are: the talent acquisition technology landscape. It • Systems of Record • Candidate Discovery outlines SIA’s framework for • Candidate Assessment categorizing the various talent • Candidate Engagement acquisition technologies • Candidate Verification available in the market, and provides definitions for each There are thousands of talent acquisition technology companies. Many are focused on a particular category. point solution or niche, while others combine a variety of solutions and may operate across multiple categories. This report is meant to be a holistic overview of the landscape, and not a detailed analysis We, at times, provide examples of the providers in each space. of brands in various categories for illustrative purposes. These This report is focused on talent acquisition technologies used directly by firms to source talent, and not examples should not be on technologies that are primarily designed for workers or by intermediaries as defined in SIA’s construed as a broader Workforce Solutions Ecosystem (such as staffing firms), though some technologies are used recommendation or by both firms as well as their intermediaries to source talent. endorsement of any particular This report does not separately categorize technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain or firm, and are not meant to mobile technology (as these can be broadly applied to many industries and applications), though these imply that brands mentioned technologies are often embedded to some degree in the solutions discussed in this report. The are better than competitors. application of these types of technology will, however, likely have a profound impact on the talent acquisition landscape for years to come. The talent acquisition ecosystem, like any biological ecosystem, is continuously evolving. More importantly, the rate at which technology is changing is faster today than it has ever been, which means that firms must constantly innovate to keep pace, and that the dominant players of today could very well become the disrupted and forgotten of tomorrow. For all stakeholders in the ecosystem, staying ahead of changes -- technological, regulatory, and societal – is paramount, and the firms that will succeed are likely not the largest, but those which adapt the fastest.

Overview of an Ecosystem

The framework to the right is our conceptualization of the Function Category Sub-category various components of the talent acquisition technology Applicant tracking systems ecosystem from the perspective of an organization that needs Systems of Vendor management systems to hire contingent or non-contingent labor. It includes five Record Software integrators broad functions which approximately mirror the candidate Workforce analytics hiring lifecycle. Job boards The first category is Systems of Record. These applications Job aggregators are typically the core of organizations’ recruiting functions in Social media job sites Online job advertising Community sites that they are the central database, or “hub”, from which Online classifieds talent acquisition activities are most often initiated, tracked Programmatic job ads/job distributors and managed. Job post optimizers The next category is Candidate Discovery. Firms in this Candidate Online staffing Discovery category use technology to find qualified candidates in Human cloud Crowdsourcing different and unique ways. Online work services Resume parsing/search-match tools Once candidates have been identified, the next three People aggregators Sourcing automation categories focus on further steps in the process: Candidate Sourcing process automation platforms Assessment, Candidate Engagement and, finally, Candidate Intelligent sourcing management systems Verification. Employee referrals Recruitment aggregators The “schema” is useful for conceptualizing how different Psychometric assessments Candidate technologies are related (and different), though we note that Skills tests Assessment many firms offer services in multiple categories, and due to Interviewing platforms Texting/email technology the rapid pace of innovation, the categories themselves Candidate Recruitment chatbots evolve over time. We will update our categorization Engagement periodically as new solutions come to market and old ones Engagement platforms disappear. Candidate Background check verification Verification Social media screening

What is not covered in this report? The focus of this report is technology that is directly related to acquiring talent from the perspective of an end client. There are many interesting technology companies which, while likely relevant to staffing firms and/or buyers of contingent labor, are not directly related to talent acquisition, and thus are not included in the talent acquisition technology ecosystem (and by extension this report). For example, technology tools that help freelancers manage their back office, such as AND CO or Bonsai, while tangentially related to talent acquisition (in that the tools help freelancers conduct contingent work more efficiently/effectively), are not included in our talent acquisition technology ecosystem as these tools would not likely be used directly by end clients. There is another category of software solutions that can be deployed post-sourcing of workers to better manage, engage, and motivate workers. SIA categorizes these solutions as HR Tech, a sub-category of ‘Other Workforce Solutions’ in our Workforce Solutions Ecosystem and, as such, they do not feature within this report. Such solutions include technologies that facilitate onboarding, personnel administration, benefits administration, performance management, training, time & attendance, expense management and engagement/recognition. Many vendors bundle HR Tech to provide a comprehensive suite of human capital management tools as part of their wider ERP (enterprise resource planning) offerings. Lastly, this report does not separately categorize technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain or mobile technology (as these can be broadly applied to many industries and applications), though these technologies are often embedded to some degree in the solutions discussed in this report. The application of these types of technology will, however, likely have a profound impact on the talent acquisition landscape for years to come. For example, artificial intelligence could potentially transform how candidates are selected and matched to open jobs. As another example, candidates increasingly consume information and services via mobile devices, which has implications for how talent acquisition technology companies design their products and services.

Key trends in talent acquisition technology The candidate is king: In many economies around the world, by virtue of a full employment market and consequent shortage of candidates (exacerbated by a skills mismatch), the candidate has in effect become “king” (or “queen”). In the US, for example, as seen below, the national unemployment rate was a mere 4.1% in January 2018, with the number of job openings remaining persistently above the number of hires.

US unemployment rate (%), Jan 2000 – Jan 2017 US hires and job openings (000s), Dec 2000 – Dec 2017

12 7,000 6,000 10 5,000 8 4,000 3,000 6 2,000 4 1,000 0 2

0 Dec-2000 Dec-2001 Dec-2002 Dec-2003 Dec-2004 Dec-2005 Dec-2006 Dec-2007 Dec-2008 Dec-2009 Dec-2010 Dec-2011 Dec-2012 Dec-2013 Dec-2014 Dec-2015 Dec-2016 Dec-2017

Hires Openings Jan-2000 Jan-2001 Jan-2002 Jan-2003 Jan-2004 Jan-2005 Jan-2006 Jan-2007 Jan-2008 Jan-2009 Jan-2010 Jan-2011 Jan-2012 Jan-2013 Jan-2014 Jan-2015 Jan-2016 Jan-2017 Jan-2018 Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

The net result is that there are fewer active job seekers in the market today, and thus the ability to attract passive candidates has become increasingly important. Candidate-focused firms -- that is, firms which have adapted their business models to candidate preferences or offer candidates more value -- have generally outperformed in this kind of environment. Talent acquisition companies often “serve” two masters: candidates and clients. For instance, a job board must attract job seekers, while employers pay to advertise jobs on the website. Typically, firms cater to the needs and preferences of end clients, as they are the ones that, in most cases, pay for the firm’s services. That said, talent acquisition firms that have been more candidate focused have generally outperformed, and in a supply constrained environment, firms may want to consider treating candidates as their most valued asset and client.

Advances in artificial intelligence: Artificial intelligence is being applied in industries as varied as medical research to finance to language comprehension, and talent acquisition is no exception (see our report “Artificial Intelligence in Talent Acquisition”). One example in talent acquisition is job advertisers that apply AI to determine which candidates to show a job advertisement based on known and inferred data. Another is assessment platforms that use AI to predict how well a candidate will perform in a given role or fit a particular team’s culture. Broadly speaking, the primary applications of artificial intelligence in talent acquisition technology are predictive job matching/candidate screening algorithms and interactive recruitment chatbots, both discussed later in this report. Mobile technology: Individuals spend more time on their phones and consume more information online than ever before. As seen below, not only has the amount of time people spend online grown over the past few years, but mobile devices have become the predominant channel by which people spend time online, accounting for more than half of daily digital use in the US1. This has dramatically shifted the advertising landscape, and firms that want to be candidate friendly now need to be mobile friendly, too. Time spent per adult user per day with digital media, US, 2008 – 2016

Source: Mary Meeker, “Internet Trends 2017”; eMarketer. Note: “Other connected devices” includes video games.

1. While we use the US as an example, this trend generally holds true globally, though not necessarily to the exact proportions illustrated in the graph above.

Blockchain: We are beginning to see the emergence of new disruptive models built on blockchain (See our report ‘The Impact of Blockchain in Talent Acquisition’). While as yet unproven, these secure, low (or no) cost models have the potential to challenge established technology providers, especially those operating in the candidate verification, payrolling, human cloud and job board sectors. Big names with an eye on talent acquisition technology: The large European business operations and customer relations software company SAP has been building its talent portfolio since the acquisition of human capital management firm SuccessFactors in 2011 and VMS Fieldglass, in 2014. More recently, some of the biggest names in technology have recently dipped their toes into talent acquisition. The most notable examples are Microsoft’s acquisition of social media jobs site Linkedin, Google’s entrance into job search, and Facebook’s launch of a job advertising platform. These firms have some of the biggest troves of cash in the world, an army of the world’s best engineering talent at their disposal, deep repositories of data and, in the case of Facebook and Google, billions of individuals that use their sites as primary sources of information and media consumption. Non-technology companies have also, rather surprisingly, entered the space recently, such as the consulting firm Bain, which acquired the MSX International, a well-established VMS. While it remains to be seen what impact and new products these firms bring to market, they certainly have the ability, scale, and resources to influence the ecosystem.

The remainder of this report defines each talent acquisition technology category and sub-segment.

Systems of Record Systems of record are typically the foundation of a firm’s overall talent acquisition efforts. Their primary function is to track and maintain information about candidates as they progress through various stages of the recruiting lifecycle, often serving as the “central hub” for talent acquisition activities. Many organizations use an applicant tracking system (ATS) as part of their sourcing strategy for direct hires. ATS is often used as a standalone product and there are many niche providers operating in this space. However, some organizations might use a human resource information system (HRIS) or human capital management system (HCMS), which are robust suites of general HR software that often include ATS functionality. As HRIS and HCMS software suites mostly comprise functionality post-acquisition of talent (time and attendance, payrolling, and benefits administration), this category of software is not included in our talent acquisition technology ecosystem (save for the ATS module). We also categorize vendor management systems (VMS) as systems of record. While end clients use VMS technology to procure temporary staff and manage temporary staffing suppliers, it is primarily used as a tool to track spend, suppliers, temporary workers, and the data relevant to each of those categories. Furthermore, as VMS technology increasingly integrates with other types of talent acquisition technology (such as human cloud vendors), it is also increasingly used as the system of record for tracking worker engagements across platforms. Applicant tracking systems (ATS) An applicant tracking system (ATS) is specialized recruiting software. It houses candidate records and updates them as applicants move through the application process. Applicant tracking systems are more focused on the “recruiting” end of the employee lifecycle. Typical features of an ATS include career portal functionality which can be embedded into a firm’s website, the ability to search for candidates/ applicants based on skills, job titles, or other keywords, and the ability to integrate with third-party talent acquisition technologies such as job boards, job aggregators, or automated texting platforms. There are two primary “flavors” of ATS. The first is generalized corporate ATS, often offered as part of a broader HRIS/HCM solution, which dominates the category in terms of total users and revenue. Generalized corporate ATS includes companies such as Taleo (Oracle), Kenexa (IBM), Jobvite, ICIMS, SAP SuccessFactors, and hundreds of others. The second flavor of ATS is software designed specifically for staffing and recruiting organizations and, therefore, not pertinent to this report. While solutions in the first category are often designed to capture passive inbound applicants (say via a Fortune 500 client’s careers page), staffing-focused systems typically have more robust recruiting functionalities and third-party integrations, and are more tailored for proactive, outbound recruitment of candidates. While these two flavors of ATS share a common name, they are normally sold by separate vendors, though a handful of vendors try to address both corporate clients and staffing firms.

Vendor management systems (VMS) A vendor management system (VMS) is an application that allows businesses to procure and manage temporary workers by aggregating third-party staffing suppliers via the system. They often provide additional tools to help contingent workforce program managers negotiate bill rates, set up business rules, and get insight into supplier performance as well as into their own programs via additional analytics. A VMS is used primarily to source and procure temporary workers assigned by a staffing agency, though they are increasingly used to manage statement-of-work (SOW) consultants and outsourced services as well. Typical features of a VMS include supplier management, order distribution, consolidated billing, risk mitigation, headcount tracking and enhancements in reporting capability over manual systems and processes (see our report “VMS Market Developments Summary”). VMS is most often used as part of a managed service program (MSP) though can be used outside of such a program. Leading vendors include SAP Fieldglass, Beeline, DCR Workforce, Peoplefluent, PIXID and PRO Unlimited. In the US, most VMS spend is supplier (staffing firm) funded. In this model, the staffing firm pays the VMS fee, typically structured as a “percent-of-spend.” In Europe and Asia, while the supplier funded model is not uncommon, it is generally not quite as dominant as in the US. Workforce software integrators Software integrators are companies that help different technologies “talk” to each other. For example, a firm might use Salesforce, Workday, Beeline, and Upwork -- solutions which each have their own unique technology stack and workflows, though ideally the systems would interact and share data as necessary and in an automated fashion. Software integration technology builds bridges (called “APIs”, or application programming interfaces) between different software vendors, so that data can easily be transferred and communicated between different vendors. Mulesoft is an example of a software integrator that operates across multiple industries, though some firms have designed interfaces specifically for various kinds of contingent workforce software such as Fyre for VMS (now part of Bullhorn). Workforce analytics Many talent acquisition technology vendors offer their own analytics solutions as part of their overall service (e.g. ATS and VMS providers or human cloud companies), unsurprising given the amount of data these solutions generate. That said, there are vendors that offer standalone talent acquisition related analytics to organizations. For example, Brightfield’s Talent Data Exchange provides benchmarking for pay and bill rates across job titles, years of experience, and location for both contingent and non-contingent workers, Crunchr’s talent module creates oversight of talent pipeline quality, identifies hidden talent and those at risk of leaving, while Hirelytics calculates KPIs and metrics to optimize the hiring process. While these solutions are not strictly systems of record unto themselves, we include them in this category since they most often require the data from systems of record (or are offered as an add-on to a system of record).

Candidate Discovery Candidate discovery technology includes companies that help clients find candidates, whether through a client’s own database, a website where an applicant has posted a resume, or an online marketplace where companies and individuals freely buy and sell contingent labor. It includes all variants of online job advertising platforms, the human cloud, sourcing automation technologies, employee referral technology and recruitment aggregators. Candidate discovery technology is arguably where most innovation and transformation is happening in the talent acquisition technology ecosystem today given advances in technology, big data methodologies and growing skills shortages, which have intensified the need for innovative solutions. Online job advertising The online job advertising category consists of websites that offer local, national and/or international job postings. These sites come in six different variants of business model (see below) with the common denominator being that they all offer paid job postings, with their fee based on some variant of the posting itself as opposed to the successful placement of a candidate (as with staffing). Since their introduction in the mid-90s, job boards have steadily expanded their reach and have become a standard part of employers’ recruiting arsenals. (See our ‘2017 Job Board Market Report’). Basic job board functionalities for employers and staffing companies include job posting and resume search. Basic job board functionalities for candidates include the ability to search and apply for jobs, upload a resume or build a profile. As these basic functionalities have not fundamentally changed since the mid-90s, they have become commoditized. We estimate there are approximately 3,500 job advertising companies globally, which generated $12.4 billion in revenue in 2016. The vast majority of these firms operate traditional job boards. The industry has evolved along with client and candidate preferences, and many firms have explored additional services to differentiate themselves. Examples include client career portals (i.e. client-branded sites for applicants), employment screening and assessment, semantic search capabilities, cv parsing and people aggregation, job board distribution (sending a job posting to multiple job boards), social media advertising, and building communities of qualified applicants. For candidates, additional features can include employer reviews, skills training and salary benchmarking, among others. SIA has formally defined seven different online job advertising business models, outlined below:

• Job board: The most common job advertising model. Typically, an employer purchases a “slot” for a predetermined amount of time in which they can advertise a job, to which candidates can search for and apply. Example brands include Monster, Seek, Careerbuilder, Dice, and Snagajob. • Job aggregators: A verticalized search engine for jobs. Scrapes employer career sites and other job boards to aggregate all job postings available on the web (and in some cases not on the web) on a single site. Examples include Indeed, CareerJet, and more recently, Google via its Job Search product. • Social media job sites: Professional networks where users can create profiles, list professional information about themselves, connect with peers and share stories and articles. These sites also allow recruiters access to candidates. Examples include Linkedin, Xing and, more recently, Facebook. • Community sites: Specialized websites that have a curated audience based on original content that is monetized via job postings/job advertisements. Examples include Glassdoor, Stack Overflow, Angel.co, and Quora. • Online classifieds: Sites, such as Craigslist, that offer job postings (in addition to many other classified services). • Programmatic job advertising/job distributors: Programmatic job advertisers place job advertisements on different websites that candidates visit. Job distributors distribute job postings to many other job boards and/or social media sites to increase the reach of a job posting. Examples include Appcast (programmatic) and ZipRecruiter (distributor). • Job post optimizers: Enhances job postings with videos, photos, interactive elements and other media to attract candidates and make career sites more appealing and online job searches more relevant and contextual. Many integrate directly with applicant tracking systems and are often bundled with other features, such as job posting distribution or candidate engagement technology. Other features can include elements of employer branding, career portals, and textual analysis of job descriptions to make postings more relevant and effective. Example brands include Jibe, Ongig and Hireology. The human cloud The “human cloud” is a collection of online/digital human labor marketplaces; websites and apps that facilitate direct, digitally enabled work arrangements, from sourcing a worker through payment. We use it to describe all types of online and smartphone app-based worker marketplaces and related business models, from apps that let you hire a masseuse to websites where you can hire a team of independent investment bankers. Similar to how the term “social media” can be used to describe Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Reddit (vastly different businesses with some common characteristics), the “human cloud” is used to describe hundreds of businesses such as Upwork, Shiftgig, Wonolo, Hired, Business Talent Group, Work Market, Catalant, OneSpace, Applause, Genesys Talent, and Uber. Human cloud companies are distinguished by the fact that they generally:

• Facilitate peer-to-peer transactions through the internet or internet-enabled devices (e.g., smartphone “apps”) • Rely on user-based ratings • Offer workers flexibility in deciding working hours or times • Expect workers to supply their own equipment to complete work (e.g. computer, software, car, tools, etc.) • Manage the relationship from sourcing through payment via the platform We have formally defined three human cloud business models: • Online staffing: A human cloud model that enables specific hirers and specific workers to enter into, complete and transact work arrangements through a website or other digital platform such as a smartphone. It is essentially (more or less) recruiter-less staffing with the entirety of the transaction facilitated online via a two-sided marketplace of workers and hirers. Example brands include Upwork, Freelancer, Toptal, Hired, Lancers, Business Talent Group, Catalant, Coople, Shiftgig and Wonolo. • Crowdsourcing: Enables work assignments to get parsed out and performed (often as disaggregated “micro-tasks”) by a far-flung “crowd” of independent workers who perform (paid or otherwise compensated/incented) work at will. Typically, the client of a crowdsourcing platform is purchasing “an outcome”, not a labor relationship. Example brands include Amazon Mechanical Turk, Fiverr, and Applause. Crowdsourcing also includes crowd-based contest platforms, where some “challenge” is posted and can be competed on by a “crowd” of workers around the world. • Online Work Services: Enables the delivery of certain specialized services (customer service, translation, writing, taxi rides, etc.) performed by workers organized and managed by a platform provider. The client is purchasing an outcome (the service), not a labor relationship, though the service is provided by independent workers. Example brands in this category include Uber, Lyft, Deliveroo, Instacart, OneHourTranslation, and Liveops. Sourcing automation technologies Sourcing automation technologies specialize in automating the process of finding and recruiting candidates, including search-match/resume parsing technology, people aggregators, sourcing process automation platforms (SPAP) and intelligent sourcing management systems (ISMS). See our report “Introduction to Sourcing Automation Technologies”. Each solution is defined below. • Resume parsing/search-match tools: These tools are point solutions that allow users to extract information from candidates’ resumes in an automated fashion (i.e. the technology “reads” the resumes) and categorize the data in a structured way, allowing for more relevant searches and matches to be performed. Search-match technology is often incorporated into other talent acquisition technologies (such as ATS, job boards, and human cloud platforms), but may be used directly by firms that are building their own talent acquisition technologies. Example brands include Burning Glass, Daxtra, RChilli and Sovren.

• People aggregators: People aggregators are like candidate search engines. Recruiters enter in desired attributes (skills, location, previous employers, etc.), and the people aggregator returns a list of candidate profiles and contact information. These tools aggregate information from hundreds of websites and social media networks on millions of candidates in an automated fashion. • Sourcing process automation platforms (SPAP): A sourcing automation platform is a twist on the people aggregator model that performs lightweight candidate pre-qualification and combines it with additional marketing automation features to fully automate the sourcing process from search through to application. They typically combine a variety of point solutions such as people aggregation, direct candidate outreach and marketing, job board and social media distribution where necessary, and performance analytics into a cohesive sourcing solution. Example brands include Restless Bandit (Discovery), Affinix (True Blue), and Talentify. • Intelligent sourcing management systems (ISMS): An intelligent sourcing management system (ISMS) is an enterprise-grade data management solution. It first aggregates multiple internal ATSs or candidate databases into a single system of record, perpetually “cleans” (e.g. removes duplicate profiles) and updates such databases in an automated fashion, combining internal candidate data with hundreds of millions of public profiles across dozens to hundreds of websites. It then applies artificial intelligence techniques to match every candidate at an organization against every open position. In short, it is like having a “smart” robot automatically compare every candidate with every open job on a continual basis, telling you who it believes is the best match for each position and why – all the while keeping a firm’s databases consolidated and current. Example brands include Arya, Brilent, Entelo Envoy, and Restless Bandit (Rediscovery). Employee referrals Employee referral technology taps into employees online and offline networks to attempt to qualify talent through existing employees. Some solutions merely ask employees for referrals (typically with an associated referral fee), while others can actively harvest employees’ networks to proactively identify qualified, passive candidates. Example brands include Reppify and employeereferrals.com. Recruitment aggregators Recruitment aggregators have a marketplace of hundreds to thousands of recruiters that employers can tap into to help fill open roles. Typically, these firms have a set placement (or “success”) fee, which is split between the recruiter that ultimately “places” a candidate and the platform. Often, there is a screening process between the candidates submitted by the marketplace of recruiters and those presented to the client. Examples include Scout Exchange, Recruitifi, Crowdstaffing, and Recruiter.com.

Candidate Assessment Once a candidate has been discovered, the recruitment process generally moves to validation. Is the candidate qualified for the position? Do they have the requisite skills and experience? Will they work well with the team that plans to hire them? Do they fit the hiring organization’s culture? Will they pass a background check? There are a host of talent acquisition technology solutions designed to help firms with this phase of the talent acquisition process. We group these solutions into three categories: psychometric assessments, skills assessments, and interviewing platforms. Psychometric assessments These test for traits such as integrity, personality, general cognitive ability and cultural fit. There is some skepticism regarding the scientific accuracy of these types of tests, with some critics even suggesting they are harmful. However, they are in common use and a great deal of research is now being done to predict a candidate’s likely success in a role prior to hire by combining various assessments with machine learning, advanced statistical techniques, and firms’ internal hiring data. For example, Koru claims to have identified non-technical drivers of success by job title and company, and claims to detect high performers through its assessment process, while Traitify claims to predict how well individuals will work with one another based on its assessment research. Skills assessments These generally test for specific job-related knowledge (i.e. a difficult skill a candidate would need to know to perform a certain role), such as the ability to program in a particular language, write an article within a certain amount of time, do cost-based accounting, or perform a statistical analysis. Example brands include HackerRank and Criteria Corp. Interviewing platforms Solutions that let employers connect with candidates via technology and perform ad-hoc or custom assessments. While companies offering psychometric and skills assessments generally have developed a specific area of expertise, interviewing platforms are more holistic solutions that often come with a variety of pre-packaged assessments and the ability to design custom assessments. This category includes job focused applications like eTeki, and other collaborative video interviewing software. Advanced tools for interviewing candidates, such as Citysail, use artificial intelligence to monitor “micro-expressions” to determine mood, speech recognition and psychological traits.

Candidate Engagement Candidate engagement is unique in that it isn’t necessarily a particular “step” in the talent acquisition process; good companies should be keeping candidates engaged from initial outreach through placement and re-deployment. However, organizations often fall short in keeping job candidates happy, productive, and engaged through the hiring process. Well-designed engagement campaigns can make organizations more efficient and productive, freeing up time for recruiters to focus on higher value-added activities. “Candidate engagement” consists of interacting with candidates in some fashion, whether it be by phone call, text message, video call, email, or in-person conversation. Candidate engagement technology attempts to automate and personalize interactions between an employer and its candidates, with the end goal of increasing efficiency, candidate experience, and ultimately, retention. Candidate engagement technology includes three sub-categories: texting/email technology, recruitment chatbots, and engagement platforms. We define each below. Automated texting/email Automated texting and email technology enables organizations to send candidates text messages and emails in an automated fashion. Typically, these solutions integrate with a firm’s applicant tracking system, and may be used to send notifications to applicants in the ATS based on different criteria. For example, a firm might set up a text message to go out to a certain population of candidates when a certain job requisition is posted. Generally, the goal with such technology is twofold. First, the automation aspects of the technology can increase productivity and efficiency. Second, by sending messages in a format preferred by candidates, organizations can increase the chance the candidate will open and read the message, potentially increasing open rates, engagement, and ultimately, placements. Example brands include TextRecruit and Call-em-All. Recruitment Chatbots A newer variant of candidate engagement technology, the recruitment chatbot, is an interactive app that candidates can “chat” with. They perform basic administrative tasks such as qualifying a candidate or scheduling an interview. While some recruitment chatbots are nothing more than interactive intake forms, more advanced chatbots use artificial intelligence and natural language processing to facilitate more robust, “human-like” conversations, and can “understand” to varying degrees the nuance and context of their interactions. Generally, chatbots can serve a number of roles, from personal assistant to customer service to an interactive game. We only include chatbots that interact with candidates and recruiters in the context of applying for or searching for a job. Examples of recruitment chatbots include Mya (hiremya.com), Jobpal (jobpal.ai), Karen (karen.ai), Talla (talla.com), Xor (xor.ai), Olivia (paradox.ai), and Ari (TextRecruit).

On the back end, chatbots can update a database or perform some action based on their interaction with the candidate, such as updating candidate information in a firm’s ATS, scheduling an interview with a recruiter, or deploying a candidate to a worksite. Engagement platforms Engagement platforms combine the different candidate engagement point solutions into a holistic platform which can be used as the central hub for all candidate engagement activities across an organization. Tools included in a candidate engagement platform can include surveys, automated outreach, custom workflows and engagement campaigns, video calling, document sharing, candidate and employee analytics, and even augmented reality functionality. Example brands include Sense, Appical and Intuo.

Candidate Verification Once a candidate has been identified and selected, the last step before onboarding the candidate is performing verifications. This generally consists of checking any criminal history, eligibility for employment, and other relevant aspects of a candidate’s background, which has historically been a manual and labor-intensive process due to the fragmented nature of record keeping standards in different jurisdictions. Background check and verification Background check and verification technology attempts to automate the process of performing background checks and verifications on candidates at scale. This is typically done by trying to standardize the different data structures used in different jurisdictions, to allow companies to gather relevant candidate data in an automated fashion. Other features include automated I9 verification (in the US), and using facial recognition technology to validate a candidate’s picture against relevant identification. Example brands include Checkr, Intelifi, and Checkster. Social media screening Online screening tools perform validation of candidates’ social media and other online activities to check for illegal/undesirable behaviors, such as racism, cyberbullying, workplace misconduct, or even workers’ compensation fraud. These tools can be used as a final check that candidates (who may have no criminal record and may have passed a background check) don’t display traits that would be unacceptable in a workplace environment. Example brands include Fama, Social Intelligence and Onfido.

About Staffing Industry Analysts Founded in 1989, Staffing Industry Analysts is the global advisor on staffing and workforce solutions. Our proprietary research covers all categories of employed and non-employed work including temporary staffing, independent contracting and other types of contingent labor. SIA’s independent and objective analysis provides insights into the services and suppliers operating in the workforce solutions ecosystem including staffing firms, managed service providers, recruitment process outsourcers, payrolling/compliance firms and talent acquisition technology specialists such as vendor management systems, online staffing platforms, crowdsourcing and online work services. We also provide training and accreditation with our unique Certified Contingent Workforce Professional (CCWP) program. Known for our award-winning content, data, support tools, publications, executive conferences and events, we help both suppliers and buyers of workforce solutions make better-informed decisions that improve business results and minimize risk. As a division of the international business media company, Crain Communications Inc., SIA is headquartered in Mountain View, California, with offices in London, England. For more information: www.staffingindustry.com

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