HK startup looks to make mass hiring easier with Talkpush

Hong Kong-based start-up Talkpush is aiming to revolutionise the mass-hiring of service staff in industries like hotels and telecommunications firms with the use of automated phone calls and chatbots.

“Companies like big telecoms did not have a career section [for service staff] because they could not handle the volume that would be associated with it. If they started receiving resumes directly they would be flooded with hundreds of thousands of resumes,” said Max Armbruster, chief executive of Talkpush.

In most cases, these companies outsource their recruitment requirements to external agencies, which process the applications for them.

“It is a very subpar way of [hiring] because companies have no control over the process,” Armbruster said.

Talkpush is anticipating huge demand for its services in markets like Southeast Asia, a region where internet infrastructure is not that well-established and email usage is lagging. According to Armbruster, an effective solution for companies who hire thousands of staff every year would be one that allows candidates to bypass the email and web procedures, and one that reduces the number of face-to-face interviews recruiters have to conduct.

“We realised that there is an opportunity to build a software that uses traditional phones to get in touch with thousands of job seekers and shortlist them based on qualifications. This would get them as close as possible to being hired,” he said.