When the Hiring Boss Is an Algorithm

Hugh Pickens writes "Joseph Walker writes at the WSJ that although personality tests have a long history in hiring, sophisticated software has now made it possible to evaluate more candidates, amass more data and peer more deeply into applicants' personal lives and interests. This allows employers to predict specific outcomes, such as whether a prospective hire will quit too soon, file disability claims, or steal. For example after a half-year trial that cut attrition by a fifth, Xerox now leaves all hiring for its 48,700 call-center jobs to software. Xerox used to pay lots of attention to applicants who had done the job before. Then, an algorithm told the company that experience doesn't matter. It determined what does matter in a good call-center worker — one who won't quit before the company recoups its $5,000 investment in training. By putting applicants through a battery of tests and then tracking their job performance, Evolv has developed a model for the ideal call-center worker (PDF). The data recommend a person who lives near the job, has reliable transportation and uses one or more social networks, but not more than four. He or she tends not to be overly inquisitive or empathetic, but is creative. 'Some of the assumptions we had weren't valid,' says Connie Harvey, Xerox's chief operating officer of commercial services. However, data-based hiring can expose companies to legal risk. Practices that even unintentionally filter out older or minority applicants can be illegal under federal equal opportunity laws. If a hiring practice is challenged in court as discriminatory, a company must show the criteria it is using are proven to predict success in the job."

Comments

That explains a lot

[afidel]

tends not to be overly inquisitive or empathetic

Well, if the bean counters consider the lack of those qualities to be what makes for a good callcenter worker then it's no wonder that the quality of support has gone down as fast as it has. Six or seven years ago when I called into support there was about a 50% chance of reaching someone who was smart and could solve my problem without relying on a script (which never solve my problem because if it can be found in available documentation I've already tried it before calling support), today there's maybe a 5% change if that.

Re:That explains a lot

[rsxaeon]

There is no such thing as asking nicely to speak to someone who speaks English when the person you are speaking to does speak English. Regardless of how well you feel they speak it, this is always rude.

Re:That explains a lot

[Anonymous Coward]

Suggestion: Stop assuming they're dumb, and just fucking work with them. You KNOW they're going to break it down step by step. So instead of shouting at them and making them scroll up to re-read your initial data dump, try this:

Agent: Hi [...] what's the problem?
Me: I'm unable to connect to the internet.
Agent: Can you power off the modem and power it back on?
Me: I did that, and it made no difference.
Agent: Can you please connect your computer directly to the cable modem?
Me: I did that, and it made no difference.
[... continue on giving him all of the data you've accumulated in small doses. ...]

When you slam somebody with a fucking book's worth of diagnostic issue, and immediately jump to "I NEED TO KNOW if the problem is X or Y," you're only going to frustrate them and yourself. They HAVE to follow the script. You need to get through the script as quickly as possible to get to someone who knows more about the problem than the level 1 guy - so WORK WITH the script. I never understand why people find this so frustrating - yes, they're asking you to do things you've already done - so simply say, "okay, I did that, no change." You don't need to argue with them, you don't need to try and hurry them along - work with them, and they'll be able to help you faster.

Sometimes getting the help you need is as easy as treating the person whose job it is to help you with a little respect - remember, you need something from them. Responding to them in a tone that says, "hey you dumb brown-skinned Indian motherfucker, speak english, and stop asking me stupid shit, because I'm a smart smart american," is just going to guarantee they'll do the minimum possible to help you. Respond to them in a tone that says, "Hey, I'm stuck, and you're the guy who's going to help me get unstuck, and I appreciate your help," might just help you get a solution (or at least get to Level 2 or 3 support) faster.

Japan doesn't have cheap labor

[sjbe]

There's a growing trend of hiring intelligent Japanese, Chinese and Indian workers at a fraction of cost to U.S. ones

You think labor rates are cheap in Japan? GDP per-capita in Japan is about 4X that of China and about 10X that of India. Japan has plenty of talent but it isn't particularly cheap or abundant talent. Japan, like the US, relies heavily on automation. Labor intensive industries left Japan years ago just like they did in the US.

The U.S. ranks 23rd among developed nations in the percentage of students with undergraduate degrees in science or engineering who are employed in related fields

Now figure out what that means. It's not at all clear what significance is in having a lower percentage of engineers at a portion of the population. The US is also the third largest country in terms of population so even if they produce a lower percentage of engineers than some other countries they still will produce larger absolute numbers than most of them. You seem to be implying that graduating a lower percentage of engineers/scientists will result in negative consequences. While that might be true you have to back it up with more than just vague implications.