Does AI facilitate the search for employment?
Several businesses struggle to find competent workers, while simultaneously many individuals are unemployed. Startup founder Annika von Mutius aims to connect these two groups through the use of extensive data and advanced mathematics.
What sets Empion apart from other career portals?
Annika von Mutius: Currently, as a job seeker or employer, you go to prominent job portals and search for a specific position. Then you receive numerous results that are predominantly characterized by a company's logo and job description. We intend to incorporate aspects significant for job satisfaction—relationships with colleagues, supervisors, and so on. Instead of typing typical job postings, users would complete a questionnaire via social media, maybe on value-based preferences. Afterward, a potential employer would be suggested.
Doesn't this approach seem geared toward highly educated or specialized professionals? Many firms are currently in need of even unskilled workers. Would the system work for them too?
We presently focus on the market for office staff, whose yearly salary range is between 30,000 and 120,000 euros. This is because this demographic's demand is quite high. However, we're also intrigued by the idea of expanding to include less qualified workers. Some employers we've spoken with are simply looking to find suitable individuals and will subsequently provide on-the-job training.
Artificial intelligence is supposed to assist in the search process. This term is commonly used, but oftenai systems are simply employed to manage large quantities of data efficiently. At what point does Empion transcend this limit?
You could think of it like this: Classical job search conversations have over 100 million possible interactions. Utilizing AI systems can reduce this to just eight to twelve questions. This system must still be individual enough to achieve the correct match. We're currently experimenting with various systems with our staff, and it's a demanding process.
Is a conventional job interview still necessary in the end?
We've also considered this and devised a model inspired by the levels in autonomous driving. And yes, at one point the entire process from application to onboarding could be handled autonomously. However, this is currently unachievable due to technological and legal limitations. The question is also whether we want that.
The German labor market is in an unusual state: On the one hand, numerous businesses are searching for employees, while, on the other hand, unemployment has slightly increased recently. Is this just a matching issue?
We're speaking with companies of various sizes. Frequently, it's not a problem of not receiving enough applications. Often, it's just that there are too many inappropriate ones regarding skills, cultural characteristics, and so on. It's essentially a filtering issue, right? There are also firms in rural areas that don't receive any applications due to a lack of suitable channels.
