Kmart cuts hiring time by 73% with AI recruitment tool

Kmart has reduced its average hiring time from 44 days to 11.8 days and saved up to A$6 million over the past three years after deploying an artificial intelligence-powered recruitment tool across its store network.

According to HRD, the Australian retailer uses an AI hiring platform to assess candidates through a five-question chat-based evaluation that measures attributes including teamwork, adaptability, communication, problem solving and willingness to help others. The platform now screens around 600,000 job applications annually across more than 450 Kmart stores.

Speaking to The Australian, Tristram Gray, Chief People and Corporate Officer, Kmart described the technology as a "blind tool" designed to minimise bias during the early stages of recruitment.

"This is not an applicant tracking system or recruitment system, it's a hiring assessment tool," Gray said.

"We don't ask people to provide a CV, that's the first bit. It's a blind tool, so it doesn't talk to the hiring managers and the recruiters about their age, their gender, their background, etc," he added.

AI delivers faster hiring and cost savings

Gray said, "We've probably saved $5m to $6m over the last three years, but secondly, it's actually improved our relationship with candidates and candidate experience, and all those candidates are customers at the end of the day."

While the AI platform conducts the initial assessment and recommends candidates, human recruiters remain responsible for final hiring decisions, with around 85% of the tool's recommendations resulting in appointments.

Retailer says AI has improved diversity

The use of AI in recruitment has attracted increasing scrutiny amid concerns that algorithms could reinforce existing biases. Victoria's government has recently pledged to introduce regulations governing AI use in recruitment to reduce the risk of discrimination.

Gray acknowledged he had initially shared those concerns.

"I was quite worried that using an AI tool, we could end up in a situation where it actually created some level of bias.

"We've actually found the reverse of that."

According to Gray, the platform has contributed to more diverse hiring outcomes, with First Nations people accounting for 8.2% of new hires, exceeding the company's benchmark of 3%. More than 3.5% of successful candidates also disclosed a disability.