Debtset – Bailiff-Sheriff Aust MEMBER Login
How to resolve AdBlock issue? AI already has huge influence on job applications
By Leon Gettler, Talking Business >>
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) has changed the way people work. It even comes down to job applications.
According to the latest Workplace and Employment Trends report from recruitment firm people2people, nearly half the Gen Z job seekers are using AI for their CVs and cover letters,
Sometimes even exaggerating their skills.
Suhini Wijayasinghe, head of HR solutions at people2people, said AI was being used less by older generations – like Gen Y, Gen X and Boomers: job seekers.
“What it really boils down to is what experience have you had articulating what your experience is without AI,” Ms Wijayasinghe told Talking Business. 
“So it’s not just about cover letters or CVs. Holistically, you’ll find a lot of millennial, Gen X and baby boomers have gone through the process of being able to talk about what they do and the experience they have, from a very authentic perspective with their own words.
“Whereas I think we’re falling into the trap of not having that experience and using AI.”
Businesses ‘left behind’ by AI
Ms Wijayasinghe said one of the big issues now was of businesses being “left behind” when it comes to flexibility.
She said RTO (return to office) mandates were damaging morale.
“Whichever way you want to proceed with flexibility and returning to work and how that looks for your business, it’s going to be different for every business,” Ms Wijayasinghe said.
“We have opened Pandora’s Box during the COVID period.
“If you’re going to harness and leverage what the current circumstances are, I think having a blanket policy of ‘We’re all going to return to the office and we’re not going to explore and have a conversation about what this might look like and how we can do it differently’, you’re just going to cause a lot of friction and resistance in your workforce.”
Return-to-office policies return productivity
Ms Wijayasinghe said many large businesses that had adopted RTO polices were now rescinding them. This included big four banks and major players in big industries.
“It’s not working and they’re seeing that there’s a significant drop in productivity compared to when they had flexible offerings in the first place,” she said.
“If you want to look at it from a risk mitigation perspective and a cost efficiency perspective, you need to think about how you harness your human talent and part of that is human psychology,
“You can’t go back to the way things were. People know this strategy can work and people actually thrive in it,” she said.
“You just need to be innovative in how you manage people virtually and it is possible.”
Ms Wijayasinghe said the people2people report showed that flexibility is now a non-negotiable for job candidates although much of that depends on the industry.
“It is becoming very quickly a non0-negotiable,” she said.
“It is something being bought up in interviews, day in, day out.
“People are basing their decision to accept an offer of employment sometimes on that flexibility piece.” 
Hear the complete interview and catch up with other topical business news on Leon Gettler’s Talking Business podcast, released every Friday at www.acast.com/talkingbusiness
https://shows.acast.com/talkingbusiness/episodes/talking-business-35-interview-with-suhini-wijayasinghe-from
ends