✅ Triple checking

👋 Happy Thursday! Can you imagine extending 1,500 job offers to candidates you meant to reject?

That’s essentially what went down at the admissions office at Georgia State University this past week, when thousands of applicants mistakenly received a congratulatory welcome email for the upcoming school year, later to get hit with a “lol, jk!” (we’re paraphrasing). A spokesperson for the school told CNN the office will now be “triple-checking” to ensure the situation is not repeated. Hey, at least they didn’t blame the intern.

💰️ P.S. Did you hear about our new referral program? If you love this newsletter, pay it forward using the unique referral link at the bottom of this email. When you hit 5 referrals, we’ll send you a $5 Amazon gift card. And even better, when you hit 10 referrals, we’ll send you a $10 gift card. That money bag emoji is all yours—get sharing!

— Team RecruitmentMarketing.com ✨

Today’s edition is a 5-minute read. Here’s what to expect👇

🗞️ Researchers say skills-based hiring is not working as intended
🌎️ Sixfold increase in candidates faking drug tests
💰️ Uber and Lyft heading to court
💻 TA roles at Microsoft, Pumpkin, Pizza Hut
💼 Layoffs at Indeed, Walmart

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This week, researchers for the Harvard Business Review reported on the recent trend towards skills-based hiring, examining the actual impact of the removal of college degree prerequisites from job applications.

Researchers found …
… a decently big issue: While dropping the college degree prerequisite widens the pool of potential candidates by two-thirds, less than four out of every 100 of these new job openings end up hiring someone without a degree. This suggests there’s a big disconnect between what requirements job postings say they are seeking versus what requirements employers are actually seeking, researchers say.

Why skills-based hiring?
Lately, it’s been a popular and strategic move for companies who are trying to open doors for more individuals, particularly from Black and Hispanic communities. With talent in short supply and diversity progress sluggish, expanding the hiring pool makes sense. And one clear, simple path forward is to drop college degree requirements from roles that don’t necessarily require them.

So, what’s not working?
“This is not a question of bad faith,” the researchers said. “We have no doubt that when companies have changed their policies, they’ve done so because they sincerely hope that removing degree requirements will help them access new sources of qualified and diverse candidates.” Instead, they believe the issue is that many hiring managers are ill-equipped to launch new practices around skills-based hiring that would advance more expansive, equitable recruiting.

Six tips for skills-based hiring.
In the report, researchers outlined six practical steps for TAs adopting skill-based hiring. For instance, celebrating internal success stories of non-degreed employees can shape corporate culture and broaden talent consideration. They also recommend revamping onboarding for skill-based hires and pinpointing roles truly requiring degrees.

The payoff ...
… is fruitful. Research suggests that hires without degrees are 20% more likely to remain at their firms than their college-educated peers.

📥️ Read more in Harvard Business Review

NUMBERS

Numbers That’ll Make You Think

• 75 — The number of hours factory workers are clocking in per week at fast-fashion company Shein, according to a new investigation, more than a year after it promised to tackle the issue of excessive working hours in its supply chain (CNN)

• 1 in 3 — The ratio of workers that have received formal training from their employers in using AI (Unleash)

• $122.2 million — The first quarter revenue reported at ZipRecruiter on its earnings call last week, down 33% from the previous quarter (Yahoo Finance)

• 80% — The percentage of Gen Z workers who think the 5-day workweek should be shorter, according to a new survey (HR Brew)

• 6x — The one-year increase in alleged substituted or fake urine samples used for workplace drug tests in 2023, according to Quest Diagnostics in a new report (WSJ)

• 36% — The percentage of U.S. hiring managers that say unexplained gaps in work history would deter them from hiring an applicant (SIA)

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

M&A Deals, Industry Moves, & Other Things To Know

• Healthcare staffing giant AMN Healthcare Services reported on its recent earnings call that revenue fell 27% year over year amid weak nurse staffing demand (SIA)

• Workforce management company Fountain (view profile) launched a new suite of products dedicated to supporting frontline workers (HR Tech Feed)

• Talent intelligence platform Eightfold.ai (view profile) launched its new AI-powered applicant tracking system (HR Tech Feed)

• Rideshare platforms Uber and Lyft will go to trial over allegations of misclassifying thousands of drivers in Massachusetts as independent contractors, according to an announcement by the state’s attorney general on Monday (Reuters)

• Hiring tech startup Apriora (view profile) raised $2.8 million in seed funding to widen the talent aperture for employers and recruiting agencies with conversational AI (Forbes)

• Scottish integration and consulting service Kyloe Partners announced it will acquire conversational AI software Squire for an undisclosed amount (SIA)

• Pregnant employees in New York will be eligible, beginning in 2025, for 20 hours of leave in addition to their paid family and medical leave, allowing them to attend appointments without cutting into their existing 12 weeks of paid family leave (HR Dive)

• Talent company Randstad Digital announced it has acquired AI-powered talent marketplace Torc (PR Newswire)

HIRE INNOVATIONS

RecruitmentMarketing.com Hire Innovations Speaker Announced 🌟

RecruitmentMarketing.com is excited to announce that Linda Lee, Talent Partner at AI Fund, will deliver a must-see Innovation Brief at the upcoming Hire Innovations—a live, virtual event dedicated to the future of recruitment and talent acquisition technology.

🗓️ Date & Time: June 12, 2024, at 12 PM ET
🖥️ Format: Virtual. Attend from anywhere!
💡 Exclusive Insights: Dive deep into emerging trends and innovative recruitment technologies with Linda and other industry leaders.
⚡️ Interactive Demos: Experience firsthand the latest advancements in recruitment tech.

Don’t miss out on this transformative event. Join us to gain actionable insights and prepare your strategy for the coming year with perspectives from experts and technologists.

Thank you to our sponsors, Dalia (learn more) and Jamyr (learn more), for their support in making this event possible!

Secure Your Spot For Free 📥️ 

OPEN ROLES

Jobs You Might Want (For Yourself!)

• Software giant Microsoft is hiring a Senior Executive Client Aligned Recruiter, based remote, with headquarters in Redmond, WA

• Pet care company Pumpkin is hiring a Lead Recruiter, based in New York, NY

• Fast food chain Pizza Hut is hiring a Human Resource Business Partner, based in Plano, TX

• Software development firm Anyscale is hiring a Technical Recruiter, based in San Francisco, CA

• Beverage giant Anheuser-Busch is hiring a Director of People, based in New York, NY

For more of these roles delivered to your inbox every Monday, subscribe to the RecruitmentMarketing.com Weekly Jobs newsletter by clicking here.

LAYOFFS

Places For You To Source Fresh Talent

• Job platform Indeed (view profile) will lay off 1,000 workers, or about 8% of the company, CEO Chris Hyams announced in an internal message to employees on Monday (Indeed)

• Retail giant Walmart is cutting hundreds of corporate jobs and asking some staff to move to corporate hubs (WSJ)

• Autonomous car company Motional cut about 550 employees, around 40% of its company, in a recent restructuring effort, according to newly reviewed documents (TechCrunch)

• Automaker Rivian is laying off 92 employees at its Orange County facilities, just two months after the company trimmed 191 other jobs (Orange County Register)

• Vacation rental platform Vacasa announced that it laid off 800 employees, or 13% of its workforce, as it plans to restructure the company (Skift)

• Footwear brand Converse is cutting jobs as parent company Nike trims its staff in part of a $2 billion cost-savings plan (Bloomberg)

WEEKLY POLL

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