Why AI and smarter hiring could save SMEs time and money

Stephen Grootes speaks to Sasha Knott, CEO of Job Crystal, about why hiring has quietly become one of the most expensive and time consuming challenges facing SMEs.

Listen to the interview in the audio player below.

Small businesses in South Africa are losing valuable time and money every time they hire, according to new research from Job Crystal.

On average, SMEs spend about 33 hours, almost a full work week, just to fill one position. In money terms, that can equal around R10,000 in lost productivity.

The problem is made worse by the sheer number of applications. With high unemployment, a single job advert can attract around 350 applicants, but only about 2% are usually a good fit. Sorting through all those CVs can take up to 10 hours alone.

Trying to save money, many small business owners handle hiring themselves instead of using recruiters. But doing it alone often leads to rushed decisions, especially when hiring is done in response to problems like missed deadlines or overworked staff.. 

Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Sasha Knott, CEO of Job Crystal says to avoid these issues, more SMEs are starting to simplify their hiring process.

"Allowing AI to save all that time. Allowing AI to screen the applications for you. To go and headhunt for you. To find the right candidate and automatically reach out to those candidates."

- Sasha Knott, CEO - Job Crystal

"For SME's specifically, I would hugely say, go and use AI. It's am absolute timesaver."

- Sasha Knott, CEO - Job Crystal

"About 2% of applications coming through actually suit the mandatory requirements. So if you can imagine how many people are applying, nowhere close to what you're looking for, that's just taking up so much time for SMEs."

- Sasha Knott, CEO - Job Crystal

Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the full interview.