Candidates in the Loop | Doug Berg from Match2

Mastering the Message: The Recruiter’s Playbook Communication is where the candidate experience lives or dies. Is your messaging helping you close hires, or is it creating bottlenecks? Join us as we break down the Best Practices for Messaging Your Candidates. We’ll tap into the knowledge of two experienced leaders including Kerry Noone, who runs Employer Brand at Ford Motor Company and Geoff Webb who runs Talent Discovery and Engagement at Canadian based Organon. Expect to walk away with: A timeline for perfect follow-ups. Communication etiquette for the modern age. Strategies to go beyond the ‘Thank You For Apply’ email Who should attend: Talent Acquisition Leaders, HR Directors, Recruiters... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Story 1: Humand’s $66 Million Bet on the Deskless Workforce https://hrtechfeed.com/humand-secures-66-million-series-a-to-revolutionize-the-deskless-workforce-with-ai/ Story 2: ZipRecruiter’s Rough 2025 Financials Story 3: WorkWhile Launches the 'AI Talent Coach' Story 4: Elly Debuts with $8M to End 'Tool Fatigue' Story 5: Workday’s $9.5 Billion Year of AI Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Todays Guest is Doug Berg from https://match2.com/https://match2.com/. The recruiting industry is broken. Companies have built one-sided systems that leave candidates frustrated and in the dark. One candidate applied to 100 jobs and heard back from only 44. The other 56 companies ghosted them completely. Here's what's worse: 80% of candidates who are a great fit for jobs don't even apply. Why? Because they know they'll never hear back. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First up, a major change at the top for Employ Inc.—the powerhouse behind JazzHR, Lever, and Jobvite. The company has officially appointed Jerry Jao as its new CEO. Jao is a serial entrepreneur who founded the AI-powered marketing platform Retention Science. What’s interesting here is that Jao isn’t just a tech exec; he was actually a Lever customer for six years. He’s stepping in with a "founder’s mindset" to lead Employ through the GenAI era. His message? Hiring must remain "people-first," but the technology needs to move faster. Watch for Employ to lean even harder into AI innovation to help recruiters make more confident decisions without losing that human connection. https://hrtechfeed.com/employ-inc-appoints-new-ceo/ Next, let’s talk about speed. hackajob just announced that its AI recruiting agent, Archer, has surpassed $1 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in just 90 days. To put that in perspective, the "pre-AI" gold standard was hitting that million-dollar mark in a year—Archer did it in one quarter. Why is it winning? Because it’s tackling the "crisis of trust" in hiring. Archer qualifies candidates before they even hit the ATS, verifying identity and fit to cut through the noise of AI-generated CVs. It’s already boasting a 20-to-1 candidate-to-hire ratio—which is 15 times better than the industry average. Originally focused on tech, Archer is now expanding to support all knowledge-worker roles, from finance to operations. https://hrtechfeed.com/hackajob-announces-its-ai-recruiting-agent-has-surpassed-1-million-in-arr/ Moving over to the freelance world, we’re seeing a massive pivot at Fiverr. In their 2025 year-end report, they revealed a "quality over quantity" strategy. While they actually lost 14% of their active buyers, the ones who stayed are spending more—average spend per buyer is up 13% to over $340. Fiverr is shifting away from the "five-dollar gig" and moving toward high-end, professional business outsourcing. They’re calling 2026 a "reset year" as they re-architect the platform to be AI-native. Along with this shift, they’ve promoted long-time CFO Ofer Katz to President to focus on strategy and acquisitions. Meanwhile, Upwork is signaling confidence in its own value, announcing a $300 million share repurchase program. This brings their total authorizations to $600 million since late 2023. Both platforms are clearly positioning themselves as high-value enterprise partners rather than just job boards for quick tasks. https://hrtechfeed.com/fiverr-shifts-focus-to-high-end-work-as-ai-transforms-the-gig-economy-2025-results-and-2026-outlook/ https://hrtechfeed.com/upwork-announces-300-million-share-repurchase-program/ Finally, we close with the latest Appcast 2026 Recruitment Marketing Benchmark Report. The big takeaway? We are officially in the "Great Stay." It’s a "low-hire, low-fire" environment. People aren't quitting, and the wage premium for job-hoppers has evaporated—it's now nearly the same as staying put. But don't let the slow movement fool you; recruiting isn't getting cheaper. The median cost-per-hire has risen to $1,053. There’s a sharp divide between "sitting down" roles (like tech) where pools are crowded, and "standing up" roles (like healthcare) where costs-per-application are as high as $35. If you want to win in 2026, the data says: keep your applications under 5 minutes, disclose the salary, and post on Mondays. Averag cost per click is now around 92 cents by the way… https://recruitingheadlines.com/2026-recruitment-marketing-navigating-the-great-stay/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The recent Eightfold AI class action lawsuit is making waves in the recruitment technology industry, but it's not really about AI—it's about data protection and personal data sovereignty. In today’s podcast, industry experts Alex Murphy (CEO of JobSync) and Leah Daniels (COO of JobSync) break down what this lawsuit means for vendors, employers, and job seekers alike. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Take2, an AI agents platform purpose-built for healthcare recruiting, today announced it has raised a $14 million Series A… The company’s first agent, the AI Interviewer, conducts phone interviews with candidates 24/7, evaluates them, records calls, and syncs results directly into applicant tracking systems — all with no human-in-the-loop. Trained on healthcare-specific hiring data, the platform helps organizations assess candidates more accurately while generating predictive insights that improve hiring quality and long-term retention.  “Healthcare systems are under enormous pressure, and hiring is one of their biggest hidden costs,” said Yaniv Shimoni and Kaushik Narasimhan, co-founders of Take2. “We’re building AI agents that actually do the work — not just assist — so recruiting teams can focus on strategic decisions instead of time-consuming manual processes.” https://hrtechfeed.com/take2-raises-14m-series-a-to-automate-healthcare-recruiting/ “Help me find an engineering job in Chicago…”  A simple prompt like that can open a world of opportunity for a job seeker. Says Indeed They just announced an expansion of their relationship with OpenAI, bringing Indeed’s massive job marketplace directly into the ChatGPT experience. https://hrtechfeed.com/indeed-now-integrated-with-chatgpt/ Phenom, announced the acquisition of Be Applied, an AI‑driven cognitive assessment solution that validates candidate and employee capabilities at scale. By combining Phenom’s AI with Be Applied’s evidence‑based assessments, enterprises can confidently move to skills‑first hiring without sacrificing speed, quality or fairness. https://hrtechfeed.com/phenom-acquires-cognitive-assessment-platform/ Recruit Holdings just dropped its Q3 FY2025 results The U.S. labor market has been characterized as “stabilizing” or even “softer” lately, with job postings declining from their post-pandemic peaks. However, Recruit’s U.S. revenue tells a different story: Revenue Surge: U.S. HR Technology revenue grew 10.1% year-over-year in dollar terms this quarter. https://hrtechfeed.com/high-tech-high-growth-recruit-holdings-u-s-engine-revs-up-in-q3/  Workday, Inc. announced that co-founder and current executive chair Aneel Bhusri is returning as chief executive officer as the company enters its next chapter, focused on leading in the rapidly evolving AI era. Carl Eschenbach is stepping down as CEO and as a member of the board after leading Workday through a period defined by global growth, an expanded industry focus, and strengthened operational discipline. He will continue to support Bhusri and the company as strategic advisor to the CEO. https://hrtechfeed.com/workday-announces-ceo-transition-as-co-founder-aneel-bhusri-returns-to-lead-the-companys-next-chapter/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a candid conversation with Chris Russell on the RecTech Podcast, Greenhouse CEO Daniel Chait reveals the company's bold pivot to focus on job seekers alongside employers. After 14 years of helping companies hire better, Greenhouse is tackling what Chait calls the "AI Doom Loop"—a vicious cycle where job seekers use AI to mass-apply to hundreds of jobs while overwhelmed employers deploy AI filters to narrow down thousands of undifferentiated applications, tightening the window for candidates and perpetuating the problem. To break this cycle, Greenhouse is launching features like My Dream Job (allowing candidates one premium application per month that converts at five times the normal rate), My Greenhouse Portal (enabling real-time application status tracking), and Greenhouse Verified Badges (rewarding employers who communicate transparently). The company's newly launched Real Talent product adds three layers of trust: candidate intent matching, bad actor detection, and identity verification—all audited monthly for bias. Looking ahead, Chait envisions a future where AI agents represent candidates dynamically rather than static resumes, and where AI-driven interviews are fairer and more consistent than human ones. With over 60 million job applications processed quarterly, Greenhouse is investing millions in AI solutions throughout 2026 to reimagine hiring for everyone, not just employers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ClearanceJobs bookings returned to year-over-year growth, rising 3% to $14.6 million. Executives attributed this momentum to a record federal defense budget and the early stages of hiring “tailwinds” within the defense sector. https://hrtechfeed.com/dhi-group-returns-to-growth-in-defense-sector-announces-new-10-million-share-buyback/ Viventium announced Wednesday the acquisition of Apploi, a leading healthcare recruitment and scheduling platform. The merger creates a first-of-its-kind, nationally scaled Human Capital Management (HCM) platform designed exclusively for the post-acute care market. https://hrtechfeed.com/healthcare-hiring-tool-acquired/ Boomband, an AI-native talent marketplace founded by Monster.com creator and entrepreneur Jeff Taylor, today announced Boomband’s upcoming launch and the closing of a $4.0 million seed round led by Boston Seed with participation from New England VC’s Slater Technology Fund, Rogue Venture Partners and Service Provider Capital. https://hrtechfeed.com/boomband-raises-4-0m-to-reinvent-the-talent-market/ Workday, announced the Military Skills Mapper, a new feature in Workday Recruiting designed to help organizations more effectively identify and hire military veterans. By translating a veteran’s military background into civilian-equivalent skills, the Military Skills Mapper will enable employers to better understand the leadership, technical expertise, and operational discipline service members bring to the workforce. The Military Skills Mapper will appear in the “My Experience” section of a candidate’s Workday Recruiting profile. When enabled, it will analyze a veteran’s service background alongside the job description and organizational context to produce a tailored list of civilian-equivalent skills. These recommendations are designed to help veterans articulate their experience in language that resonates with private-sector recruiters—while preserving their ability to edit and refine the list for accuracy. https://hrtechfeed.com/workday-introduces-the-military-skills-mapper/ RALEIGH, N.C. — JDXpert, the Job Information Management Platform company for enterprise HR teams, announced the launch of JDX+, a next-generation product that helps organizations standardize, govern, and analyze job information with AI-guided workflows, in-product insights, and a first-of-its-kind Job Architecture Builder. https://hrtechfeed.com/jdxpert-launches-new-job-architecture-builder-and-ai-guided-governance-to-enterprise-job-information/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

recent podcast episode, Michael Wolford, author of AI Recruiter 2.0, discussed how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the recruiting industry by automating administrative tasks and empowering recruiters to focus on what they do best: building relationships and adding real value. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is your career site delivering the conversion you need? Dalia’s plug-and-play tech turns any employer career site into a high-performance candidate conversion engine — no replatforming required, live in days.Visit dalia.co to learn more. AND by jobcase, "Are you struggling to find the right talent in a crowded job market? Jobcase connects you to a massive community of over 120 million registered workers, including the hourly, skilled, and gig professionals that other job boards often miss. Visit jobcase.com/hire today to post your roles and start building the team you need with tools designed to make hiring fast and easy." Alright rec techies…..here’s what's happening this week. Kind of a quiet week… First up…The WorkTech sector ended 2025 with strong momentum, demonstrating resilience across funding, M&A activity, and valuation metrics. This market update synthesizes key findings from the latest analysis and provides strategic context for businesses and investors navigating this dynamic  https://hrtechfeed.com/q4-and-full-year-2025-worktech-ma-and-investment-activity/ Fountain, a technology company focused on frontline workforce management, announced Thursday the release of two new AI-integrated features, “Pool” and “Source,” designed to change how companies identify and hire hourly workers. https://hrtechfeed.com/fountain-launches-ai-tools-to-help-employers-hire-from-existing-talent-pools/ ADP, a global leader in HR and payroll solutions, today introduced new ADP Assist agents that apply advanced intelligence to real workforce challenges and foster creativity and connection at work. https://hrtechfeed.com/adp-launches-new-ai-agents/ ZipRecruiter® (NYSE: ZIP), a leading online employment marketplace, unveiled Be Seen First today, a new product that helps job seekers break through the “application black hole” and get their job application to the top of the resume pile. https://hrtechfeed.com/ziprecruiter-now-lets-job-seekers-jump-to-the-top-of-the-resume-pile/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices