FifthEdge has kicked off operations of its AI driven recruitment platform in the UAE. The platform, also called FifthEdge, is designed to change the recruitment process in the construction and engineering sectors at an industry level. The company says it will increase the recruitment capacity of hiring companies by up to 467% and reduce cost-to-hire by 52%.
The platform is billed as an all-in-one solution for companies looking to attract talent. It is said to use AI technology to match companies to candidates, who are either actively looking for jobs or passive candidates who are open to changing roles if the right opportunity comes along. The company states that rather than candidates applying for specific positions, they select companies they may want to work for, so should a role arise, the companies then have a live talent pool from which to select candidates.
According to a statement, candidates can submit their CVs and create a profile on the platform free of charge. The AI technology then screens and assesses their profiles against industry-specific disciplines. In the event additional information is required, candidates are contacted via chatbots. 
“Recruitment has evolved very little in the past decade or so. Candidates essentially hunt for jobs using the same tools, such as LinkedIn, job sites and recruitment agencies. Either way, they are essentially being added to a database that is likely not up to date, resulting in frustration for all parties. Candidates are demotivated because they are applying for positions and never receiving any feedback. Meanwhile, companies are struggling to fill roles because the database they are accessing is out of date and candidates don’t fit their criteria,” said Marcus Taylor, CEO and founder of FifthEdge.
The company notes that following an AI-driven, industry-specific, in-depth assessment of profiles carried out by algorithms, candidates see real-time company updates if their skillsets match the companies’ requirements. When companies they’ve selected have roles available, they can set search parameters based on the job requirements and FifthEdge will search the available candidates who have indicated they would want to work for them. Companies will be able to access this always up-to-date live talent list to select candidates they would like to interview, the firm said.
Taylor, who was the managing partner of recruitment agency Taylor Sterling, has over 15 years’ recruitment experience. Explaining why he is stepping back from traditional recruitment, he explained, “The feedback from companies and candidates is the same – the recruitment status quo just isn’t working. I had become disillusioned with it all and was convinced there had to be a better way. I knew it had to be more efficient for companies to engage with talent before they needed to hire and then the challenge became creating a system that would facilitate that.”
He added, “While FifthEdge will not 100% replace recruitment as we know it, it will certainly drive efficiency and improve quality of life for candidates and those working in HR and in-house recruitment teams. By doing the majority of work for 80% of the recruitment requirements, it frees these teams up to focus on the hires that FifthEdge does not currently address, such as C-level executives.”
To engineer FifthEdge, Taylor collaborated with Accubits Technologies, a global provider of artificial and blockchain technologies that has delivered projects for NASA, Homeland Security, Smart Dubai, Dubai Police and Etisalat.
Taylor also stated that while FifthEdge’s AI does a substantial amount of the recruitment legwork, the firm has a team of experts to supervise and interact with companies and candidates when required.
Discussing plans, Taylor concluded, “We are already looking at what sectors we are going to target next. We will be expanding into oil and gas within the next six months. We have been asked to begin developing data to assist in the Asian, European and American markets, which will be a really fun challenge. The beauty of FifthEdge is that it can be used in any sector, so there’s really no limit. Our long-term aim is happy candidates and companies in every sector.”
