How smart companies - and candidates - are getting ahead in the job market using AI
When global recruiters start sounding the alarm (or sounding the opportunity!), we should listen. According to Robert Walters, one of world's largest recruitment firms, AI is transforming hiring through five key areas: efficiency, bias reduction, consistency, data-driven decision making and better candidate experience. In a world where some jobseekers report sending over 300-400 applications before finding a job, AI is helping HR teams stay above the noise, filtering out poor matches and surfacing the right ones faster, fairer and smarter.
But here's the twist: AI hiring tools aren't only for companies. The smartest candidates are also using AI-powered platforms to rise to the top of shortlists and be noticed first. It's not just about automation; it's about activation on both sides.
AI is here and it works
Recruitment hasn't just changed; it's evolved and the traditional model (post job, wait, sift, hope) has been replaced by something far more dynamic. According to LinkedIn's 2024 Global Recruiting Trends Report, AI tools reduce time-to-hire by up to 30% and increase candidate satisfaction when integrated effectively into hiring workflows. In high-volume hiring environments or lean HR teams, that's not just nice to have - it's business-critical.
A smarter marketplace: two sides, one engine
We often treat AI hiring as a one-way lever for employers - a shortcut to reduce effort - but what's emerging now is a two-sided AI-powered job marketplace that gives just as much power to the candidate such as EH Jobs and EH Hiring, innovations from Employment Hero. Mobile-first, candidate-facing platforms like this have been designed for how people actually job hunt today: fast and on-the-go using their mobile phones. EH Hiring is its employer counterpart - an AI 'matching engine' that plugs companies into a database of 1.5 million candidates across ANZ alone. It's not another "Tinder for jobs," but a connected platform that uses real HR data and predictive AI to understand who will thrive in what roles and why.
For candidates, being on EH Jobs means being instantly eligible for AI-assisted shortlisting which is a game-changer in a crowded job market. In a world where uploading a CV sometimes isn't enough, being in the right system - one that's built to highlight your potential - can make the difference between dreaded silence and a first interview.
The engine: SmartMatch
Using SmartMatch technology, the tech doesn't just keyword match; it scans for high-fit candidates based on role performance indicators like tenure, career progression and alignment with previous successful hires. For businesses already using Employment Hero to manage their staff, it gets even smarter - it can find replacements that match your highest performers using internal benchmarks.
Case in point: hiring, streamlined
Kate Shuker, HR Lead at consulting firm Eliot Sinclair, manages the recruitment for up to 14 roles at once. In her words: "SmartMatch saves me four to five hours a week in peak periods because it puts the best-suited candidates at the top so I'm not scrolling through hundreds of CVs." That time gain means faster interviews, less stress and fewer costly hiring delays which is an outcome that matters when businesses are under pressure to move faster.
Better smarts, not just more speed
Yes, speed matters; but precision and insight matter even more for data-driven decision-making. With SmartMatch and EH Hiring, employers don't just hire quickly, they also hire wisely. The system learns what high performers look like in your specific environment and it flags risk factors like excessive job hopping. It also provides aggregated insights on candidate trends, such as skills that are in high demand, where applicants are clustering, or what benefits might be attracting top-tier talent.
This isn't theoretical - it's happening now, with thousands of candidates entering the SmartMatch pool each week and employers receiving curated shortlists in minutes, not days. Right now, there are over 2 million jobs available on EH Jobs.
These aren't just tools; they're infrastructure for the future of work and they remove guesswork, cut through noise and give both sides the clarity they need to make confident hiring decisions.
