IMPRESSIONS || October 2022

With the advent of metaverse, can AI replace HR jobs in the coming years ?

Many sectors of the economy have witnessed colossal growth over the past several years, and momentous changes have been the bedrock of this overall progress. An exaggeration; it certainly isn't if one were to state that AI has fueled this matrix of progress. It would indeed be a challenging task to isolate a job sector that is unaffected by the phenomenon and advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Most people would not find it shocking if this trend were to continue in the coming years, considering the current trajectory of the modern world. Increasingly laid out for all to see and fast to become a fixture of many discussions is the issue concerning whether AI can replace HR jobs in the future.

Artificial intelligence is rapidly integrating into the dynamics and progress of the modern cosmopolitan world. The metaverse will make more innovations and improvements in the HR field possible. Geographical constraints on employment would cease. And since people from various locations can conveniently converse effectively, communication, which has already progressed in the current scenario, will witness more ease and evolution. When people can do business, attend meetings, and do other daily activities from anywhere in the world thanks to a system that closely resembles face-to-face interaction, it will be possible to develop the collaborative and effective communication that the HR industry dearly needs. Candidates may gain additional knowledge about the corporate culture and working environment through the metaverse. Additionally, it can assist HR in effectively training workers remotely during immersive training sessions. Large-scale automation will be introduced by AI platforms, speeding up processes and removing the necessity for some jobs. But this mainly applies to routine, recurring, procedural, and document-intensive tasks. A recruiter might need to sort through hundreds of resumes, narrow them down, and schedule interviews; this is a time-consuming and laborious procedure that AI could do. These processes can take hours and hours to complete manually.

AI can handle only initial pre-hire assessments. An HR manager should conduct the final interview. This is due to the complexity of people, which makes emotional intelligence necessary to comprehend them. Even though AI gathers data from people, it is challenging to identify a consistent pattern for hiring people. We want employees with varied qualities since different people are suited to various jobs and functions. Individuals in a particular position will have unique attitudes and decisionmaking processes that are too complex to be put into AI because it is difficult to describe and grasp the motivations, perceptions, attitudes, values, and decisions of other people, and it is impossible for AI. We can still relate because we are human. We can still connect to and comprehend the same things since our experiences and emotions stand out more than any expertise we may have gained. It is challenging for an AI to identify patterns because our experiences are unique to us and shape our perceptions, attitudes, behaviours, lives, and accomplishments. And AI can only evaluate candidates based on their skills. It cannot detect passion, evaluate their attitude toward working with current teams and assess their personality concerning company culture. Only a human manager in the HR division is capable of doing this.

There is more to recruiting than just a resume. For instance, the HR recruiter looks for a person-job fit where the individual's demands must be addressed, and the individual must meet the job's requirements. Additionally, the person-organization fit is evaluated to see if the values of the organization and the person align. Because recruiters are humans with strong people skills and people-centric dispositions, they can identify the right prospective employee, but AI cannot accomplish this. Therefore, there will always be a need for excellent HR recruiters as long as people work in the industry. Candidates must be appropriately trained after the hiring procedure. As previously indicated, the metaverse can be used as a tool to aid in the process. However, an HR manager must interact with the employees, get to know them, cater to their grievances and give them the proper training.

Additionally, a recruiter frequently may reach a situation when they need to persuade a candidate with an impressive prospect to think about working for their organization over others. AI is again unable to accomplish this. Once more, the human endeavour is required here to comprehend, evaluate, and convince the prospective candidate in a way that benefits both sides. Employee engagement surveys are another HR task that demands manual and mental work. However, we can ask staff questions, record their responses, and then examine them conveniently to conclude using AI. It would save HR plenty of time.

When we have a significant field workforce, temporary employees, or perhaps a remote staff, scheduling our team becomes even more challenging. By maximizing the potential of our staff, AI completely transforms this. It can automatically generate timetables that account for employee preferences while closely monitoring labour law observance. AI can anticipate the future and gain insights based on past experiences, data, and patterns. To better understand the workforce, predictive HR analytics, which uses historical data to forecast future results, is gaining popularity in HR departments. With the correct information, HR can anticipate organizational difficulties and take preventative action. Employee turnover is one area where predictive analytics has made a big difference. Predictive algorithms can mine employee data for patterns that can help HR understand why employees leave and how to keep them from going. The models serve as an early warning system, informing managers and HR of the critical risk factors for employee turnover and urging management to take action before it's too late. Again, AI can only provide insights in this situation; it is up to HR to act on them and make the best choice to keep personnel. HR managers will have to then work on why the employees are choosing to leave and change to convince and retain the employees.

Chaithanya Ajit