Human Resource Professionals’ Perceptions of Adopting Artificial Intelligence in the Recruitment Process in New Zealand Organisations

Abstract

In today’s fast-paced and highly competitive business landscape, organisations increasingly embrace artificial intelligence (AI) to drive innovation and efficiency. One notable transformation area is recruitment, where AI rapidly changes traditional practices of searching for, attracting, evaluating, and selecting talent. While the global adoption of AI in recruitment continues to accelerate, the experiences of human resource (HR) professionals within New Zealand’s unique employment context remain underexplored. This study aims to fill that gap by exploring: (1) the experiences of HR professionals towards the adoption of AI in recruitment, and (2) the advantages and challenges of the adoption of AI in recruitment as perceived by HR professionals. A qualitative approach was adopted, using semi-structured interviews with ten HR professionals to gather rich insights into their interactions with AI-powered recruitment solutions. There are four findings from the study. First, the study shows that the role of HR professionals is evolving in AI-based recruitment. Second, AI recruitment tools are productivity enablers rather than replacements for human roles. Third, there are ethical concerns rather than technical limitations. Finally, HR professionals are actively evolving their skills and vision to align with a future increasingly defined by AI. This study contributes empirical insights to AI integration in human resource management (HRM) and offers practical contributions for HR practitioners and stakeholders.