- Active sourcing can help recruiters find candidates that are a better match
- Retail teams note the lowest satisfaction with existing tools
- IT and marketing teams will spend the most on new tools
TestGorilla’s latest report found that barely more than one in three (37%) US hiring and recruiting leaders are well-prepared for AI, automation and advanced analytics.
This is despite three-quarters (77%) of them stating that active sourcing is ‘essential’ or ‘very important’.
Even though HR and recruiting professionals acknowledge the important of active sourcing, where teams go out and actively find candidates instead of waiting for people to apply, only 27% have actively sourced more than half their hires.
HR and recruitment are due a technological makeover
Talent acquisition teams are still struggling with key steps in the process, such as struggling to verify skills on resumes (58%), identifying if candidates align with the company culture (47%) and finding skilled workers at all (43%).
IT organizations also noted outdated candidate data (44%) and integration gaps between tools (48%) as major hurdles – even in a tech-first sector, while retail teams reported the lowest satisfaction with sourcing tools (31% vs. 54% on average).
“[Sourcing teams are] expected to deliver quality hires in a market where AI is rapidly reshaping talent acquisition, skills are harder to verify, and outdated tools can’t keep up,” Test Gorilla CEO Wouter Durville explained.
Looking ahead, IT professionals expect more of a disruption from AI and automation (54%) than they do skills shortages (27%). This is despite two in three (67%) IT teams planning to invest in new sourcing tech within the next 12 months, with marketing teams most likely to budget for new tools (75%).
“Better sourcing comes down to three things: smarter signals on skills and culture, tools that integrate seamlessly, and clear ROI measurement so you can double down on what works and fix what doesn’t,” Durville added.
