Even with the advancement of self-driving cars and autonomous vehicles becoming all the rage, it is believed by many that no amount of technology can fully replace the reaction and thinking capabilities of a veteran Driver. Recently, this topic took center stage at the 2019 Mid-America Trucking Show. As reported by ttnews.com, the outstanding concern for many Truck Drivers in attendance was how quickly they would be replaced with “robot trucks.” However, to help in easing some of the concerns, the panelists, all mainly representatives of various tech companies within the automotive industry, answered questions directly on this topic.

“I can assure you that a young person going into trucking today will retire a truck driver, if he or she wants it,” said Robert Brown, director of public affairs for Tucson, Ariz.-based TuSimple. “The technology really, truly is amazing. I always tell people we can handle the freeways, but we can’t handle the infinite number of things that you all do on a daily basis.”

“I think like everyone else that as long as there are trucks, there are going to be truck drivers,” said Ognen Stojanovski, CEO of San Franciso-based Pronto, a company that makes driver-assist technologies. “But having great eyes and reaction times is not a substitute for having a great brain.”

The fact of the matter comes down to this, while technology in the trucking and automotive industry has broken through many barriers and has exceeded expectations in number of ways, it will not replace the human beings behind the wheel. Their intuition and experience is irreplaceable. Technology’s purpose in these industries to assist those Drivers and make their job easier and safer, not only for the Driver but for the other motorists on the roadways.

The Trillium brand of companies is privately owned by René Poch and provides more than 30 years of industry leading recruitment and staffing services through its divisions including: Trillium Staffing, Trillium Construction Services, Trillium Driver Solutions, Trillium Marine, Trillium Technical, Trillium Environmental, Trillium Hospitality and Trillium Techs. With approximately 100 offices nationwide and nearly 400 internal recruitment professionals, the Trillium brand is proud to be recognized by Staffing Industry Analysts as a Top 25 Largest Industrial Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Largest Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Fastest Growing Staffing Firm in the U.S., and a winner of National Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. For more information please visit www.trilliumstaffing.com.

According to a recent study sited by Forbes.com, the average time to hire in 2017 was 23.8 days, an increase of 13 days since 2010. With the job market feeling more crowded than ever, AI and ML are poised to make a huge impact on the recruiting and hiring process over the next few years, starting in 2019.

The greatest contribution that AI and ML can bring to the overall hiring process is freeing up time. The majority of the activities associated with locating, sorting through, qualifying and hiring talent are quite lengthy and time consuming. With the advent of AI and ML, the ability to gather and sort large amounts of data (including resumes, applications, etc.) at a much more efficient pace will ultimately free up HR professionals to act on potential hires, instead of weeding through them.

As with any new technology or improvement to business practice, the adoption of such advances will take time and will require quite a bit of adjustment and fundamental changes to the way that current HR programs are designed and implemented. These upgrades may come in the way of software programs, company policies, infrastructure changes and operational improvements all with the idea of creating a much more efficient, time saving hiring process in order to free up HR and recruiting professionals to build relationships and improve candidate engagement and retention. After all, in a job market as tight as this one, employee retention, engagement and overall satisfaction should be at top of mind for all companies looking to hire.

However, just keep in mind that adding AI and/or ML to a company’s hiring strategy is just one stepping stone in a line of upgraded practices for the recruiting process, on-boarding process and ultimately, the end goal of decreasing employee turnover.

The Trillium brand of companies is privately owned by René Poch and provides more than 30 years of industry leading recruitment and staffing services through its divisions including: Trillium Staffing, Trillium Construction Services, Trillium Driver Solutions, Trillium Marine, Trillium Technical, Trillium Environmental, Trillium Hospitality and Trillium Techs. With approximately 100 offices nationwide and nearly 400 internal recruitment professionals, the Trillium brand is proud to be recognized by Staffing Industry Analysts as a Top 25 Largest Industrial Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Largest Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Fastest Growing Staffing Firm in the U.S., and a winner of National Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. For more information please visit www.trilliumstaffing.com.

It’s no secret that those in the workforce would prefer something with stability. It is, after all, simply human nature. However, there were also findings that indicate where the gig economy is still thriving. It appears that over half of the contingent workforce is likely to be under 25 years of age. This group of workers is also far more likely to be enrolled in school during this time. What does this tell you? It’s simple, the majority of the individuals currently partaking in the contingent workforce are doing so out of necessity, not necessarily desire. These contingent or temporary workers are using the gig economy as an ends to a means, but are still striving for that long-term, stable career.

Having stability in one’s career is not the only factor that today’s workforce is taking into consideration. Having access to employer-provided healthcare and retirement programs are proving to be extremely important to today’s job seekers. In fact, the study shows that only 35% of on call workers and 13% of temporary workers have access to any form of retirement plan. For those just entering the workforce, this may not be a big deal not but 10 years down the road, they may singing a different tune.

Long story short, with all of the hype surrounding the gig economy and freelancing, the bottom line remains the same; workers today are just as eager to find a long-term opportunity that can provide reassurance and stability as they were 20 years ago.

The Trillium brand of companies is privately owned by René Poch and provides more than 30 years of industry leading recruitment and staffing services through its divisions including: Trillium Staffing, Trillium Construction Services, Trillium Driver Solutions, Trillium Marine, Trillium Technical, Trillium Environmental, Trillium Hospitality and Trillium Techs. With approximately 98 offices nationwide and nearly 400 internal recruitment professionals, the Trillium brand is proud to be recognized by Staffing Industry Analysts as a Top 25 Largest Industrial Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Largest Staffing Firm in the U.S., a Top 100 Fastest Growing Staffing Firm in the U.S., and a winner of National Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. For more information please visit www.trilliumstaffing.com.