High Demand For AI Talent Drives Creative Recruiting Methods

Organizations should leverage the existing talent and invest in future employees

Artificial intelligence is sweeping through the business world and prepared to leave behind anyone who’s not ready to get on board. In 2017, 68 percent of business leaders implemented AI solutions within their organizations, and experts predict this number to skyrocket in the coming years. With AI’s ability to transform the workplace into a productivity paradise by centralizing internal processes and automating mundane tasks, resisting this technological advancement is a threat to any company’s success.

Businesses pursuing AI solutions are seeking developers and programmers who specialize in the field, with job postings for AI-related positions up 119 percent from three years ago, according to Indeed. But the urgency to bring in AI talent is unmatched by the number of interested candidates. Searches for  AI-related positions has plateaued in the last year, leaving more than 500,000 computing jobs unfilled in the United States. This unequal ratio of interested employers to AI job seekers is draining the applicant pool of qualified workers, creating a serious staffing problem for business leaders. With a lack of talent applying for these roles, companies are struggling to implement the AI strategies needed to keep their services ahead of competitors.
 
The few data engineers and experienced analysts on the market hold all of the negotiating power, and many businesses are finding they can’t afford the best of the qualified candidates. Only big name companies who can offer six-figure salaries get to compete, preventing smaller businesses from breaking into the AI playing field. With everyone vying for the attention of experienced talent, all the AI gurus get to hand pick where they want to work.

Big conglomerates, like Apple or Google, might have the upper hand in AI-talent recruiting, but they still face the same competitive job market as smaller businesses. Instead of going head-to-head with one another, corporations of all sizes need to work together and leverage their resources to identify out-of-the-box solutions to increase the talent supply.
 
Unfortunately, data scientists and software architects don’t grow on trees, but there are ways to plant the idea of learning those skills in people’s heads to build qualified candidates. Whether it’s internally or externally, business leaders can achieve this in a couple of ways:

It’s always easier to fill valuable positions with employees who are already a part of the team. As an alternative to recruiting expensive talent outside of the company, employers can identify current workers to train in AI through continued education programs. Employees with a math or science background are excellent candidates because they can expand their skills to include AI functions. Leaders can entice those employees to make the shift to an AI career by offering raises and opportunities down the road to climb the corporate ladder. Recruiting from within is cheaper, faster and safer because it prevents hiring an unreliable worker.

A lack of interest in an AI-related career from college students is partially causing the talent imbalance. Computer science degrees may rank highest in demand by employers, but they don’t even break the top five most popular college majors.
 
To pique interest at the university level, businesses have to rewind and take a look at the high-school level, and even younger. Like recruiting for college athletics – where coaches promote their program early on in hope top performers select their team to launch their athletic career. Younger generations are also at a huge advantage to develop AI skills because having grown up in a digital age with exposure to automation, they’re already familiar and unafraid of AI technology.
 
Businesses can expose young students to AI by setting up high school internship programs or partnering with interested students to raise awareness for AI careers. Developing talent for the future may be a long-term solution, but it sets up a fuller talent pipeline of qualified candidates for the coming years.

Fear of change in the workplace is also fueling the skills gap. It’s nearly impossible for business leaders to transform their company if their workers resist new processes, so it’s important that companies communicate the value of it to their employees. An AI culture doesn’t develop overnight, so businesses should slowly adapt an easy-to-use AI tool that replaces a simple, internal process. For example, automating an administrative workflow, such as contract management, improves productivity in a way that isn’t hard for employees to understand its functionality. The typical length of a contract cycle is longer than four months for 22 percent of businesses, making it a large hassle for the departments in charge keeping drafts updated with new edits and passing to the appropriate channels for review. Automated workflows allow documents to be routed seamlessly to the parties involved, giving employees more time and energy to focus on critical tasks.
 
It’s easier for employees to get on board with a small change like this compared to a complete AI makeover. By identifying some easy ‘wins’, employers can slowly integrate AI into its business and start hiring good candidates to fill potential jobs.
 
At the rate businesses are transforming their workplace, the demand for AI talent isn’t dropping any time soon. But businesses don’t have to sit around and wait for a bigger pool of candidates to get started on their high-thinking projects. Organizations can leverage the talent they already have, invest in future employees in their early stages, and introduce simple AI solutions to prepare their team for big changes. Big and small, companies can find the resources they need to join the AI marketplace now.