Gen AI for HR   //   July 17, 2024

HR leaders with AI skills in high demand and getting major pay raises

This article is part of a series that looks at specific ways HR professionals can leverage generative AI. More from the series →

HR professionals with generative AI skills are in high demand as companies look to integrate more of the tools and ensure they are used appropriately and ethically.

HR specialists with AI skills today are currently making $35,000 more a year on average than those without them, according to internal data from Lightcast, a labor market analytics company. Ultimately, the top priorities for these AI-skilled HR leaders will be leveraging the technology to help companies more efficiently find the best talent, and to maximize the output of current talent, experts say. 

“AI is not going to replace HR,” said Michael Beygelman, founder of Claro Analytics, a people analytics and talent platform, and evp of product at WilsonHCG. “People with AI skills will replace HR people that don’t have the AI skills,” he said.

Using AI to streamline and improve talent acquisition and recruitment processes is currently the biggest area of interest. Demand for talent acquisition and recruiting managers with AI skills grew almost 60% in the past two years, according to internal data from Lightcast. For others in more general HR roles, demand for candidates with those skills grew 38%.

“AI is not going to replace HR. People with AI skills will replace HR people that don't have the AI skills."
Michael Beygelman, founder of Claro Analytics and evp of product at WilsonHCG.

“Talent acquisition is consistently the largest line item in most HR teams’ budgets and AI is uniquely well positioned to help maximize the ROI of talent acquisition activities,” said Will Markow, vp of applied research at Lightcast.

AI tools can help complete a number of time-consuming tasks in recruitment, and when leveraged correctly can save organizations significant amounts of time and money spent on hiring the proper candidates. They can help sift through thousands of resumes and filter top candidates, write job descriptions, and generate and coordinate communications and interview scheduling. Some are even using AI-powered video interviews which record and gauge candidate responses. 

But ethical concerns remain a key issue when it comes to AI hiring tools, particularly bias and whether new processes could run afoul of existing anti-discrimination hiring laws. No federal law exists in the U.S. specifically covering the use of AI in the hiring process, though if such tools are used to make discriminatory hiring decisions it could violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Some states and cities now have specific legislation regarding AI in hiring, like New York City. That law stipulates that employers must notify candidates of the tools that will be used in the hiring process. Employers choosing to use AI must also conduct yearly bias audits of the tools and post results publicly.

Accordingly, HR professionals with AI skills will have to ensure they understand how the hiring tools work to defend any claims of biased outcomes and protect their organizations against lawsuits. “You could open yourself up to significant legal issues if it turns out that software does, in fact, lead to more biased hiring outcomes,” Markow said. “So I think it’s imperative that organizations leverage AI in a way that is explainable and defensible.”

“It is helping HR teams to better understand how to get the most out of the people they already have."
-Will Markow, vp of applied research at Lightcast.

Beyond the recruitment process, AI can also be used to help streamline many tasks and responsibilities for HR teams around training and career development. It can help identify skills gaps and create targeted training programs, and identify top performers and other metrics to inform promotional opportunities. It can also help identify skills adjacencies across organizations and create pathways for internal career mobility.

“It is helping HR teams to better understand how to get the most out of the people they already have,” Markow said.

HR professionals’ AI skills will also come in handy when organizations are considering when to use AI versus when to not use it. “The most valuable AI skills for HR practitioners are understanding when you need to keep a human in the loop. It’s important for organizations to remember that their people are going to be the ones who should be making the decisions, not just the AI.”

“AI is not going to help console a grieving employee, and AI is not going to help you build the company culture that you envision,” he said.

“Especially when you’re talking about HR topics, you really want someone from HR involved so that it doesn’t just become a tech solution and not a people solution,” said Emily Rose McRae, senior director analyst at Gartner.

“Especially when you're talking about HR topics, you really want someone from HR involved so that it doesn't just become a tech solution and not a people solution."
Emily Rose McRae, senior director analyst at Gartner.

But a key issue remains — few HR leaders actually have much experience with AI tech, and many remain confused or intimidated by it. And their organizations are doing little to help. Over 80% of senior leaders prioritize attracting workers who are knowledgeable of AI, yet just about 40% said they are actively working to train and upscale employees on AI fully and at scale, according to EY’s latest AI pulse survey.

“A lot of HR people are intimidated by it and don’t feel comfortable understanding what it’s all about,” said Josh Bersin, global industry analyst and CEO of the Josh Bersin Company.

“There’s a belief that in order to understand AI, you have to be a computer scientist. And that’s absolutely not true. You don’t have to know how to develop AI to learn what it is and how to use it and how to implement it,” he added.