June 27, 2025

The Truth Behind Hiring Mismatches As AI Takes Over

By David Archer

In just a few years, AI and related technologies have become integral to the recruitment process for organisations and applicants alike. But even though businesses are looking more holistically at their recruitment and talent strategies, when it comes to skills-based hiring there is often a disconnect between what they say they want from technology and how they actually use it.

Tools like Eightfold and Phenom provide smart features such as advanced filtering, skills inference (via language processing), and generally more intelligent matchmaking. Niche products like Fonzi.ai help engineers get hired.

These platforms are becoming increasingly sophisticated, covering areas such as gamified testing and voice-to-text candidate summaries, to machine-generated job descriptions and QR-based applications.

As a result, companies are investing more in full recruitment tech stacks and end-to-end lifecycle platforms. But the real challenge lies in strategic capability: do internal teams know how to use the tools effectively to drive smarter decisions, or are they just checking a box?

This decision comes at a time when UK employer hiring confidence has hit rock bottom.

The intent may be to build future-fit teams, but without properly aligning the intuition of hiring managers to judge what they need with the full capabilities of newer technologies, execution is likely to fall short.

Unless tech is embedded as part of a coherent recruiting strategy and used to uncover value as well as to eliminate risk, the hiring process will remain narrow and transactional—hardly suited to the complex, human nature of modern work.

Smart Technology, Poor Experience?

Technology has revolutionised recruitment, but not always in ways that enhance outcomes for candidates or businesses. In theory, programmatic advertising, AI-based job ad targeting, chatbots, and automated assessments should help to streamline the candidate experience and highlight the best-fit applicants faster. But the reality is that they can often introduce friction and diminish the human touch.

At ManpowerGroup, our specialists in Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) often find that clients are focused on what kind of tech they have, rather than what it enables. This means that at a time when so many internal recruiters are swamped by high candidate volumes and the lack of time to personalise interactions, many have access to high quality software platforms that are being underused or misused.

This amounts to greater attrition in the recruitment process, with higher rates of ghosting and candidates reporting poor experiences despite companies having invested in exactly the kind of technology meant to prevent those outcomes.

RTO Adds Further Hiring Challenges

Added to this misuse of new technology in hiring are several workplace issues that continue to dominate headlines and social media themes – particularly Return to Office (RTO) mandates.

Of the industries where home-working and remote-working are practical, very few organisations demand a five-day office presence. Most are taking a more measured, hybrid approach.

The issue remains prevalent however because of its potential to prompt strong and polarised opinions. This, alongside vested interests i.e. commercial landlords, political allies, and some legacy leaders who benefit from the perception that offices are synonymous with productivity, provides fertile ground for debate.

In practice, most companies are choosing pragmatism over posturing. Business leaders are weighing flexibility, employee preferences, and talent access, rather than relying on outdated norms about presence equating to performance.

Businesses that are insisting on full in-office schedules however, are significantly narrowing their talent pools – sometimes by as much as 70% as we’ve found at ManpowerGroup. In sectors with high competition for niche skills, such as IT and engineering, this can be a critical misstep in attracting candidates.

Candidate Experience is Key

As organisations compete for scarce talent, candidate experience is emerging as a key differentiator, especially in CX-driven industries. For high-demand professionals, the speed, clarity, and tone of the hiring journey increasingly shape perceptions of a brand.

With application processes becoming more complex, recruiters fielding higher volumes, and internal comms stretched thinly, many companies are struggling to offer a consistent and human experience. This is particularly damaging in a market where job seekers have options – or when they don’t, and a poor experience leads to reputational harm.

Candidate experience now spans everything from initial contact and assessments to onboarding and post-offer communication. When organisations get this right, they build loyalty and stand out in a crowded market. When they get it wrong, they lose out – often silently and without a second chance.

Rethinking Hiring

The misalignment between hiring technology, evolving workforce needs, and old-school organisational behavior is creating friction across the job market. Technology has outpaced strategy. Talent expectations have outpaced leadership norms. And the stakes for brand reputation, engagement, and retention are only getting higher.
But there is a way forward.

Organisations that blend intelligent tech with human judgement – while prioritizing the candidate experience – will reap the benefits. They reduce time-to-hire, accessing broader and more diverse talent pools, and building cultures that reflect modern work realities.

The future of hiring isn’t about returning to old models or blindly adopting new ones. It’s about thoughtful evolution that is grounded in strategy, powered by tech but guided by empathy.