Summer is peak season for many retailers, and hiring seasonal workers to meet that demand is critical. But with the pressure to find quality candidates in a short amount of time, summer hiring can be very challenging for talent teams. In the past, they had to muddle through this high-stress process, crossing their fingers that they’d hired the right people.

But thanks to the rise of AI, that story is changing. Today, hiring tools can help retail businesses move faster and hire better, even when applicant volume is at its highest.

Here are some of the biggest summer hiring challenges the retail sector faces and how AI can help solve them.

Challenge #1: High Application Volume Under Tight Deadlines

One of the biggest hurdles for recruiters during the summer hiring season is the time crunch. Hiring teams are suddenly tasked with reviewing a flood of applications, screening candidates and scheduling interviews — all within a very short time. And with the traditional hiring process often taking anywhere from two weeks to 60 days, it’s just not built for the kind of speed seasonal hiring requires.

How AI helps: With AI-powered hiring tools, teams can automatically assess large volumes of applicants in a fraction of the time, quickly identifying the best matches based on role-specific skills and qualifications.

Using AI agents, hiring teams can rely on science-powered AI to reason and adapt in real time, even when unexpected challenges arise. Not only does this help get the right candidates into the right roles much faster, but it also frees up recruiters to prioritize top candidates.

Challenge #2: Low Applicant Engagement and High Dropoff Rates

It’s no secret that many application processes are tedious and frustrating for candidates. From creating new usernames and passwords to re-entering the same information already on their resume into an applicant tracking system (ATS), candidates are often met with roadblock after roadblock. It’s no wonder that 92% of applicants drop off after clicking “apply.”

This is bad enough during regular hiring cycles. But for seasonal hires, hiring teams can’t take that chance. They need a fast, efficient experience where candidates are guided through a process and left feeling like their time truly matters.

How AI helps: Acting as a digital recruiter, AI tools ensure that every candidate feels seen and supported, even when human recruiters aren’t available. That means there is no lag time or long, drawn-out processes. An AI-powered communicator can chat with a candidate, learn and adjust responses based on the candidate’s needs and screen them to ensure they can move onto the next stage of the process, just like a human would. And throughout it all, candidates are constantly engaged, significantly reducing the drop-off rate.

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