Roughly 8 out of 10 employers in Romania say they will hire the same number of people as before, despite the implementation of artificial intelligence-based solutions, according to a survey conducted by recruitment platform eJobs. However, they will look for candidates for a different skillset than those currently sought.
The implementation of artificial intelligence-based solutions in companies is still at an early stage, given that 47.4% of employers who participated in the eJobs survey stated that they use such solutions sporadically and only at the initiative of employees. Only around 5.2% of companies in Romania have integrated AI into their departments as a strategy, and 15.5% have only a few clearly defined processes involving AI.
Moreover, a quarter of employers are either in the documentation and exploration phase or do not use it at all and have no plans to.
AI was received “with enthusiasm and curiosity” by a third of employees when implemented, but “there were also reactions of reluctance and fear for job security or even indifference, AI being seen as just another tool that needs to be ticked off,” said Raluca Dumitra, Head of Marketing at eJobs.
Around 26% of employers say that workload has decreased due to AI, with between 10% and over 20% of the time previously needed, while 10% say it has increased, as time is needed to learn and verify the tools used.
Another 10% state that the reduction in workload is noticeable, but came with lower quality results. In fact, more than half of the respondents said they have moderate confidence in the accuracy of AI results, which require thorough verification. Roughly 11.4% have low confidence and use such tools only for brainstorming, while 33% invest in them with a high level of trust and only perform quick reviews.
An assessment of the departments where employers believe AI has had the most positive impact so far places marketing & communication, operational/administrative, and recruitment & HR in the top three.
On the other hand, customer support, sales & business development, and even IT & software development departments proved more resistant to AI impact.
Regarding the extent to which AI will influence the need for staff, 8 out of 10 employers said they will hire the same number of people as before. Half of them add, however, that different skills will be required. Around 16% believe that AI will take over some tasks and cause them to hire fewer people, while 1.2% say that, on the contrary, the need for people will increase in order to manage the technology.
At this moment, AI literacy is a “nice to have” in the current recruitment process, not an eliminating criterion. Moreover, 39% of employers say that this criterion is not yet evaluated in hiring interviews, while 17.1% of respondents say it represents a major competitive advantage.
There are also several concerns and barriers related to the general implementation of artificial intelligence solutions in companies. The main one is related to the security and confidentiality of data exposed in this framework, while the other is the lack of employees’ digital skills. Some 17.2% mention the high costs of licenses and implementation, and 12.6% the team’s cultural resistance to the new.
“Weighing the benefits they have observed after integrating AI, almost 40% of employers mention the elimination of repetitive/boring tasks. 30% see a positive impact on creativity and generating new ideas, and 19.8% see faster response speed in the market. 3.7% talk about reducing recruitment and salary costs because they hire less, and 2.5% about reduced operational costs,” Raluca Dumitra added.
(Photo source: Paradee Paradee|Dreamstime.com)
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