AI-driven job apps improve efficiency but won’t replace human resources any time soon

While job searching via a mobile app has become the norm in China, most jobseekers may not realize that machines, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and data analysis, are analysing their every move and compiling a complete profile which can include their preferred salary - even if they do not know what that is.

“When a jobseeker indicates their salary is ‘negotiable’, what does that mean to the recruiting app which has to identify their real needs and match them to a desirable company?” asked Zhao Peng, founder and chief executive of Kanzhun Technology, operator of mobile recruiting app Boss Zhipin.

While some applicants are proactive in suggesting their target salary, many people may look at their background and experience and still be unable to come up with a salary level they consider is appropriate, Zhao said. That is where the app, which uses proprietary algorithms to improve talent-job matching based on statistical data and user behaviour, can help. Once it analyses all the relevant information - including résumé, personality, the type of jobs being applied for - the system can determine what salary level may satisfy their needs.

In China, an estimated 80 million people are using mobile recruiting apps to look for jobs, Aurora Mobile, a mobile big data consultancy, said in a report issued late September. The top three players are Maimai, 51job.com and Boss Zhipin, with daily active users (DAU) of 2.14 million, 1.62 million and 1 million respectively as of September this year.

Although AI-backed recruiting apps can use algorithms to improve screening efficiency among job applicants and companies, they cannot replace human resources because the field is complicated due to its case-by-case nature, said Kenneth Tang, director of the research department at Aurora Mobile.

The role of computers and AI is even more limited in the headhunting industry. “Human recruiters work on in-depth and non-standardised assignments, which means technology plays a smaller role. AI can assist headhunting work to a certain extent but it will not have a huge impact on the headhunting industry,” said Tang.