What was meant to facilitate, speed up and help attract and retain talent is becoming a barrier that keeps candidates away from selection processes. The growing adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) causes 47.3% of professionals to abandon selection processes due to a lack of trust, with 36.8% of them pointing to excessive automation as the main reason for giving up.
The data comes from a survey by Heach Human Resources, a company specializing in recruitment and selection. According to the study, which interviewed 1,823 respondents, automated screening has established itself as the main breaking point in hiring. Data shows that less than half of candidates (just 48.9%) decide to move forward in the process after initial contact.
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Distrust of the job market begins at the first approach. The survey reveals that 87.6% of professionals do not trust automated contacts made via WhatsApp, email or other digital platforms and, as a result, engagement plummets: 39.4% of candidates simply ignore communication and 11.7% take the drastic measure of blocking the corporate channel.
“The biggest risk of artificial intelligence in recruitment is not excluding people, but pushing them away before they are even evaluated. If there is no trust in the first contact, the process practically ends there”, analyzes Elcio Paulo Teixeira, CEO of Heach Human Resources.
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Fear of fraud and senior flight
In addition to impersonality, information security is a major factor in evasion. The Heach survey indicates that 29.1% of candidates associate excessively automated processes with the risk of fraud. As a defense mechanism, 41.6% say they seek external validation — such as checking the veracity of the vacancy in other sources — before proceeding with sending data.
Cross-referencing demographic data brings a direct warning to companies seeking to fill strategic and leadership positions: among professionals with more than 10 years of experience, resistance to AI in selections reaches a peak of 91.2%.
Insecurity with technology proves to be immune even to financial need. The study shows that, among unemployed candidates, the process abandonment rate rises to 52.6%. In other words, not even the urgency for a replacement in the market is enough to overcome the distrust generated by digital distancing.
The challenge of balance for HR
The research makes it clear that the digitalization of recruitment, although it brings indisputable gains in agility and operational efficiency, has not been accompanied by the development of a “journey of trust” for the user.
For Teixeira, the current scenario requires companies to review routes, investing in greater transparency and a mix between automation and the human factor to prevent the best talent from falling by the wayside.
“We are experiencing an important transition in recruitment. Technology is fundamental to providing scale and speed, but it cannot replace building trust. Companies that are able to balance efficiency with a more human experience will be more successful in attracting and retaining the best professionals”, says Teixeira.
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