Good morning! Paige McGlauflin here, taking over for Amber.
Those who’ve read our most recent Fortune @ Work playbook know A.I. is poised to transform how we work. While HR teams are in varying stages of A.I. adoption, with some still at the most embryonic stage, Mastercard is among the companies heavily promoting A.I. use in its people function. The payment processing company’s HR head said as much at a panel hosted by the human capital advisory firm The Josh Bersin Company last week.
One tool Mastercard’s HR team adopted early is an A.I.-based game used to vet candidates. The game doesn’t record demographic data, instead advancing candidates to the next interview round based on whether they can complete specific tasks, among other assessments. Michael Fraccaro, Mastercard’s chief people officer, says the game helps reduce the risk of unconscious bias in hiring.
Mastercard also uses Microsoft Teams, which provides insight into how much time employees allocate to a particular activity like messaging, how much time they spend in meetings and with whom, and suggestions like offering to schedule an email in the future. In addition, the company utilizes an automatic scheduler to streamline setting up interviews, creating an 87% productivity bump, Fraccaro said.
Like many employers, his team is testing ChatGPT to write job descriptions, but he cautions that whatever it produces requires vetting since recruiters and hiring managers are still “accountable for what goes out there to the market.” Mastercard employees can use the chatbot for experimental and learning purposes but are restricted from using it for client purposes.
Many companies have similar policies, including PwC’s Australian division, which encourages employees to experiment with ChatGPT but prohibits them from using any material supplied by ChatGPT and sharing firm or client data with the tool.
For more on how companies harness A.I.’s full potential in the workplace, check out our robust Fortune @ Work playbook.
Paige McGlauflin
[email protected]
@paidion
Reporter’s Notebook
The most compelling data, quotes, and insights from the field.
In an interesting turnaround, some employers have taken the continuation of remote work as a chance to replace their full-time employees with gig workers.
“Fewer full-time jobs means fewer costly benefits: healthcare, pensions, on-the-job training, a steady paycheck. In the age of WFH, companies are gig-ifying the American office,” writes Aki Ito in Insider.
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines, studies, podcasts, and long-reads.
– The federal government has been among the most aggressive employers in recruiting laid-off tech workers. AP
– Several Wall Street firms pay summer interns almost $20,000 a week. Bloomberg
– Some companies keep older workers by offering paid leave when they become grandparents. Wall Street Journal
– Google distanced itself from a drag show planned to celebrate Pride month after a few hundred employees signed a petition protesting the event. CNBC
Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Fortune.
Credit Suisse layoffs. UBS plans to lay off about 35,000 people due to its buyout of the failed Credit Suisse. —Bloomberg
Starbucks backtracks. Starbucks will issue “clearer centralized guidelines” for in-store Pride decorations after 150 stores went on strike over its previous policies. —Bloomberg
A.I. hiring shuffle. The CEO of a media company that laid off 20% of its newsroom, claiming A.I. could do part of their job, says he plans to double the number of investigative journalists on staff. —Rachel Shin
Read the full article here
