Mapping the Evolving Role of Digital Skills In A Dynamic Labour Market

The recruitment industry is rapidly changing and the future of work, for most of us, will look very different. From new, never-before-seen jobs to changing candidate skill requirements, from expectations on personalization to the growing gig economy, there’s no denying that the talent solutions field of 10 years ago is completely different..

What does the future of the industry look like? How can companies keep up? We spoke with Andreas Korczak, Group SVP, Head of Product for the Adecco Group, about some of the challenges in the industry amid shifting technology changes – and how companies can keep up.

1. As Head of Product for the Adecco Group, what does the future of the talent solutions and the recruitment industry look like to you?

   The talent solutions and recruitment Industry is one that is undergoing rapid change. Megatrends on digitalisation, geopolitical and economic uncertainty, a growing gig and platform economy are driving the change, fuelled by technology development. Every year, new jobs emerge, and traditional profile requirements shift. This creates significant pressure for companies who are searching for talent, as well as individual careers. The talent solutions industry today is not the same as the industry 10 years ago – and anyone still using the same practices needs to take the time to reconsider their path. Alongside this change, there is a growing demand for individual end-to-end solutions which address the ever-changing needs both our clients and candidates face. As a client looking for a new position, I would expect seamless support from the point of searching for a job to the contract phase to notifications on relevant new opportunities later on. As a company searching for top talent, the process should go far beyond the operational execution and include guidance and advisory.

2. How do digital products from Adecco Group help to build the future of work?

   Technology will be key to build the future of work. Technology will function as the main enabler to increase connections between our employees and employers. Through technology, we can address the key challenges facing the current market, including identification and prediction of demand, qualifying talent, upskilling, and reskilling. It’s also an important way to ensure the industry continues to push forward and build a more diverse and inclusive environment. The future of recruitment will see a closer tie between people and technology, and this will ensure that no-one is left behind. At the Adecco Group, we operate in more than 60 countries and we support a broad portfolio of talent services and solutions. This gives us access to predict and understand new trends and requirements – to not only support the future of work, but to guide and form it.

3. How can digital products better solve the challenges that our clients and associates face today?

   Digital products are the future of human resources and talent solutions. The list of digital opportunities spans across the full lifecycle of careers. It’s our job to guide our candidates and associates through a more personalized job process, which includes providing full accessibility to latest job opportunities, insight in market trends and personal guidance on jobs, actions and learning opportunities. For our clients, the digital portal enables guided self-servicing, the accessibility to relevant market data, and the opportunity to steer their own business engagement. We are designing the best-in-class digital user experiences to enable people to reach their full potential, whether these are our client, associates, or candidates. These experiences enable our customers to optimise and solve their talent needs and ultimately achieve their career goals.

4. Why is it important to maintain a people-first approach amid all this digital change and the shift to a more digital and AI-powered future?

   Whilst Digital technology and AI enables us to automate recruitment processes, such as job alerts, re-hiring and upskilling, these tools also provide access to valuable data which put us in a position, as a market leader, to impact wider social change and address key issues, such as skilling, diversity and inclusion, and tackling biases when it comes to the hiring process.

   Our approach is people-first, in the sense that we are only successful if we make our clients and candidates successful. We listen to needs of our clients to match their new requirements, as well as the hopes and expectations of the talent we place, to develop their careers.

5. How does the digital product team define digital solutions for our recruiters, candidates, and clients?

   All our work starts with user research and feedback from our teams. We develop digital products as part of an end end-to-end journey, from the identification of needs and requests to the support of a placement on a journey for continuous growth.

   There are three different principles of our product innovation:

   • Data-driven intelligence through built-in AI capabilities
   • A user first approach to deliver highest customer satisfaction and adoption
   • An integrated journey on a single screen for each of our audiences.

6. What responsibility do companies like The Adecco Group have in building the future of work for everyone?

Our jobs don’t just revolve around building new talent solutions. It’s our fundamental responsibility, as key actors in the world of work, to establish a transparent and flexible environment to match the needs of our clients and candidates. We have a responsibility to work to improve long-term issues cropping up in the working world, like diversity and inclusion, sustainability, and more. We’re committed to making the future work for everyone.

I often get asked, what does that mean? It’s quite complex, but we can boil it down to this: means we aim to maintain highest standards of sustainable business practice and establish a culture that is both diverse and inclusive, whist addressing the ever-changing needs of our clients and candidates This starts with translating the market environment to individual business conditions and continuously push the boundaries on innovation - to stay ahead of the change curve of the industry.

This article is the first in a series about digital disruption in human resources, the role of technology in talent solutions, and more. Stay tuned for more articles on how digital product solutions can help solving the challenges for both customers and candidates alike!