Being a recruiter in the age of digitalization: a sustainable job? Analysis of technological-related changes from the workers’ perspective in Belgium

The process of digitalisation has substantial, but contradictory effects on labour markets and more precisely on the allocation, the nature and the quality of jobs. As the introduction of new technologies is deemed to profoundly affect the world of work, several consequences for workers might be expected, bringing in that way the issue of “sustainable jobs”. They can be described as “working and living conditions that support people in engaging and remaining in work throughout an extended working life” (Eurofound, 2015).
From the results of the ongoing belgian (SEAD) project, we propose to focus this paper on the evolution of recruiters’ occupation, narrowed to recruitment and selection. Those phases constitute one of the fields of HRM in which most technologies have been applied (Patmore et al., 2017) and most papers about e-HRM have been produced (Stone et al., 2015). It is also the biggest field of publication regarding artificial intelligence (AI) and human resources since 2018 (Jatobá et al., 2019).
Based on a qualitative material (about 20 semi-directives interviews) analyzed in a computerized-assisted way, this paper proposes to depict the evolutions that are experienced by professionals and how they construct the narrative of technology-related occupational change from a career perspective. What are the impacts of digital tools on job quality? What are the needed competences in the digital transformation of these jobs? Building on the work of Munoz-Bustillo et al., 2009 and Vandenbrande et al., 2012, we will specifically investigate 4 analytical dimensions, gathered in two categories: work (job content and working conditions) and employment (employment conditions and social relations at work).
Our preliminary results show that the transformation of recruitment through the use of digital tools appears as evolutive, rather than disruptive. Though we observe a skills balance shift towards digital skills (that are to be emphasized), the importance of soft skills and occupational skills is not downsized (e.g., being proactive, demonstrating adaptability, etc.). The human-machine interaction on dedicated tasks is much more implemented in a collaborative-way, rather than a substitutive one (harmonization and centralization of data flows). With the increased difficulties in filling vacancies, recruiters must possess more communication and online marketing skills, including target-oriented marketing strategies. We can thus observe an evolution of the recruiter's profession, which is not so much linked to the use of tools per se as to the evolution of the context in which their action takes place. The digital tools thus can’t be considered outside the social context they are embedded in. On the contrary, both the choice of tools and the way they are used reflect the changing concerns and purposes of recruiters. Their comments also reveal an evolution in the strategies for adapting to selection tools deployed by the candidates themselves. These findings can therefore be interpreted in the light of a socio-material approach in line with the work of Orlikowski (2007, 2016), which can be a perspective for further elaboration of our analysis.