Career start-up Workey raises $8M to replace head-hunters with artificial intelligence

Workey will use the new capital to expand and to hire people for its research and development and data science teams

Tel Aviv-headquartered start-up Workey is using artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline the recruiting process by matching companies with potential candidates, having raised $8 million in Series A funding.  A great way to find good employees is by scouting “passive talent,” people who aren’t currently looking for new jobs but might be convinced to consider with the right offer.

A study released by LinkedIn last year revealed that recent college graduates are more likely to switch jobs at least twice before their early 30s than previous generations. Workey targets people who are interested in potential opportunities, but don’t want to broadcast their curiosity to everyone, including their current employers. Once they sign up for the site, they create an anonymous profile that is then used to find positions which their background and skills qualify them for.

Founded in 2015 by Danny Shteinberg, Ben Reuveni, and Amichai Schreiber, Workey has worked with over 400 companies so far, including Amazon, Dell EMC, Yahoo and Oracle. In a group interview by email, the trio told TechCrunch that the anonymous platform helps mitigate hiring bias, because companies don’t see a candidate’s gender, ethnicity, race, or religion first. It also allows candidates to see how they stand in relation to the rest of the job market, which can help them during wage negotiations.

“Like it or not, there is much truth to the belief that candidates who are currently working are more desirable than those who are out of a job and full-time job hunting,” Workey’s founders explained. “Passive talent, those who are not actively looking but wouldn’t want to miss out on their dream job, are often the most desirable candidates since they typically are already secure in their current position (likely because they perform them well).”

Once a candidate has applied for a position and decide to interview, they are then able to track the status of their application, so they don’t spend weeks in limbo waiting for an offer or rejection. The startup works mainly with tech companies right now, because it was “invented by engineers for engineers,” but can be adapted for other industries. The site is free for job candidates and monetizes by charging companies a fee, but its founders claim that they potentially save thousands of dollars by using Workey’s artificial intelligence instead of head-hunters or recruitment agencies.

Its founders say that Workey will continue to evolve and grow, with a continued investment in R&D to ensure that users are provided with the best possible matches, thereby enhancing their careers.

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