It's the annual ‘September surge' in job-hunting and recruitment activity and ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has highlighted concerns around the use of AI in finance and accountancy recruitment which emerged as one of the headline findings in this year's annual Global Talent Trends Survey.
Nearly seven in ten (69%) have reservations about the use of AI algorithms in hiring processes, far higher than the global proportion (48%). Attitudes vary considerably across countries, sectors and by generation. Those working in accountancy practices in mid-tier firms tend to be more positive about the use of AI in recruitment, as are Gen Z respondents.
Yet the real spotlight in the data falls on corporate leadership – more than half of board level leaders across the globe (54%) express doubts about the growing reliance on AI when selecting talent. But AI concerns are heightened in the UK board rooms compared with across the globe, with 74% of senior leaders not confident of how AI is used in hiring.
ACCA's Global Talent Trends Survey is the largest annual survey of careers, jobs and working life in finance and accounting, with over 11,000 respondents from 160 countries.
Jamie Lyon FCCA, global head of skills, sectors and technology at ACCA said:
“This year's survey findings raise an important question in an increasingly AI-driven environment which is: ‘Is anyone truly winning in the AI led finance job-hunting race right now?' Organisations are increasingly using AI in their hiring activities, while some candidates themselves are using AI chatbots to support with their job applications. This is leading to a surge in the volume of applications, and growing complexity in recruitment systems at a time when young people in particular are facing a tough job market.”
He added:
“AI is here to stay and offers many benefits, but it's important that hiring processes are fair, equitable, transparent and supported by appropriate human oversight.”
A recent ACCA poll suggests concerns around recruiters' use of AI, including:
Bias: While AI can help reduce potential bias in human-led processes, there's often distrust in the algorithms and the data they are trained on.
Lack of human touch: One of the big concerns that individuals have is the lack of human touch in processes – less personal feedback on applications, and the increased anonymity of processes that are less human-centric.
Data privacy and transparency: concerns on how the data is used and protected
There is growing interest in the appropriate governance around the use of technologies, increased attention on the value of audits and monitoring processes around the AI algorithms being used and strengthening regulatory requirements. The Global Talent Trends report concludes that while AI in recruitment is here to stay, ensuring appropriate safeguards and mitigations are essential as the technology continues to evolve.
