Rec Tech: the Recruiting Technology Podcast

Here's audio from a case study with Varsity Brands a Phenom client recorded at IAMPHENOM in Philadelphia 2026.

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Alright rec techies…..here’s what's happening this week.

First up, SAN FRANCISCO — Juicebox, the outbound recruiting platform, announced $80 million in Series B funding at an $850 million valuation led by DST Global. The company has tripled ARR since its Series A in July 2025, and now serves 5,000 customers spanning fast-growing technology companies and Fortune 100 brands, with customers reporting up to 90% less time spent identifying top candidates.

https://hrtechfeed.com/outbound-recruiting-platform-juicebox-raises-whopping-80m/

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—-Talvy, a platform that offers video-first professional profiles, today announced its $2M seed round led by Link Ventures. 

https://hrtechfeed.com/talvy-raises-2m-seed-for-video-resumes/

Persona, the identity platform for businesses worldwide, today launched a Candidate Verification solution to confirm job applicants’ real-world identities at critical hiring stages. With integrations into Ashby, Greenhouse, and Workday, the offering enables talent acquisition and security teams to verify candidate identity as a natural part of their existing workflow.

https://hrtechfeed.com/persona-launches-candidate-verification-to-stop-hiring-fraud-before-day-one/

I’ve just returned from Philadelphia where I attended this years I AM PHENOM user conference. This year it had about 2,500 customers and prospects gathered together at the convention center downtown.

Unlike last year when they debuted 25 AI agents, this year saw no major product announcements rather they focused on product enhancements particularly around workflows and data orchestration. They called it WorkOps and They also announced a move into Public Sector HR 

https://hrtechfeed.com/phenom-set-to-go-after-public-sector-hr-software-market/

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First up, a massive move in the early-career space. upGrad, Asia’s integrated skilling and workforce development leader, has officially acquired Internshala, the world’s largest internship platform.

https://hrtechfeed.com/upgrad-acquires-worlds-largest-internship-platform/

Moving from early career to global staffing—ManpowerGroup is making a major bet on AI interviewing. They’ve announced a global partnership with AI pioneer Hubert to scale structured, chat-based interviews.

We’ve all heard the "AI is taking over" headlines, but Manpower is calling this a "Human-First" approach. The AI handles the initial 24/7 screening—meaning candidates can interview at 2:00 AM if they want—but the final hiring decision stays with the human recruiter.

The Takeaway: In a world where 75% of employers struggle to find talent, speed is everything. Manpower claims this moves candidates through the pipeline five times faster. By using the "STAR" method for its AI questions, they’re aiming for fairness and consistency over gut feelings.

https://hrtechfeed.com/manpowergroup-adding-ai-interviewing-strategy/

Next, one of the giants of the ATS world is sporting a new look. iCIMS has officially unveiled a brand refresh, featuring a vibrant new purple logo and the tagline: "Powering Exceptional Hiring."

But this is more than just a logo change. They’ve launched iCIMS Coalesce AI, which is now the unified name for their entire intelligence layer.

The Strategy: iCIMS is moving away from "AI as a feature" and toward "Agentic AI." We’re talking about autonomous agents that don’t just suggest things, but actually take action throughout the hiring journey. It’s a clear signal to the market: iCIMS wants to be seen as the "responsible AI" leader for the enterprise, balancing automation with high-level governance.

https://hrtechfeed.com/icims-unveils-new-logo/

Speaking of AI Agents, ADP Marketplace just opened up a whole new wing of their digital storefront dedicated specifically to them.

They’ve curated a group of partners—names like G-P, Employ, and Salary.com—to offer AI agents that integrate directly with ADP. These agents can orchestrate workflows, navigate global compliance, and even generate real-time workforce insights.

https://hrtechfeed.com/adp-marketplace-adds-ai-agents-from-partners/

The February ADP National Employment Report is out, and it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The private sector added 63,000 jobs—the strongest month since last summer.

But here’s the kicker: the "pay premium" for job-switchers has hit a record low.

While job-stayers saw a steady 4.5% pay increase, those who jumped ship only saw gains slow to 6.3%. The gap is narrowing fast. Also, the growth is hyper-concentrated; almost all the gains came from Education, Health Services, and Construction, while Professional and Business Services actually shed 30,000 roles.

https://recruitingheadlines.com/private-sector-adds-63000-jobs-in-february-as-pay-premium-for-job-switchers-hits-record-low/

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Mastering the Message: The Recruiter’s Playbook

Communication is where the candidate experience lives or dies. Is your messaging helping you close hires, or is it creating bottlenecks?

Join us as we break down the Best Practices for Messaging Your Candidates. We’ll tap into the knowledge of two experienced leaders including Kerry Noone, who runs Employer Brand at Ford Motor Company and Geoff Webb who runs Talent Discovery and Engagement at Canadian based Organon.

Expect to walk away with:

A timeline for perfect follow-ups.

Communication etiquette for the modern age.

Strategies to go beyond the ‘Thank You For Apply’ email

Who should attend: Talent Acquisition Leaders, HR Directors, Recruiters...

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Story 1: Humand’s $66 Million Bet on the Deskless Workforce

https://hrtechfeed.com/humand-secures-66-million-series-a-to-revolutionize-the-deskless-workforce-with-ai/

Story 2: ZipRecruiter’s Rough 2025 Financials

Story 3: WorkWhile Launches the 'AI Talent Coach'

Story 4: Elly Debuts with $8M to End 'Tool Fatigue'

Story 5: Workday’s $9.5 Billion Year of AI

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Todays Guest is Doug Berg from https://match2.com/https://match2.com/.

The recruiting industry is broken. Companies have built one-sided systems that leave candidates frustrated and in the dark.

One candidate applied to 100 jobs and heard back from only 44. The other 56 companies ghosted them completely.

Here's what's worse: 80% of candidates who are a great fit for jobs don't even apply. Why? Because they know they'll never hear back.

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First up, a major change at the top for Employ Inc.—the powerhouse behind JazzHR, Lever, and Jobvite. The company has officially appointed Jerry Jao as its new CEO.

Jao is a serial entrepreneur who founded the AI-powered marketing platform Retention Science. What’s interesting here is that Jao isn’t just a tech exec; he was actually a Lever customer for six years. He’s stepping in with a "founder’s mindset" to lead Employ through the GenAI era. His message? Hiring must remain "people-first," but the technology needs to move faster. Watch for Employ to lean even harder into AI innovation to help recruiters make more confident decisions without losing that human connection.

https://hrtechfeed.com/employ-inc-appoints-new-ceo/

Next, let’s talk about speed. hackajob just announced that its AI recruiting agent, Archer, has surpassed $1 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in just 90 days.

To put that in perspective, the "pre-AI" gold standard was hitting that million-dollar mark in a year—Archer did it in one quarter. Why is it winning? Because it’s tackling the "crisis of trust" in hiring. Archer qualifies candidates before they even hit the ATS, verifying identity and fit to cut through the noise of AI-generated CVs. It’s already boasting a 20-to-1 candidate-to-hire ratio—which is 15 times better than the industry average. Originally focused on tech, Archer is now expanding to support all knowledge-worker roles, from finance to operations.

https://hrtechfeed.com/hackajob-announces-its-ai-recruiting-agent-has-surpassed-1-million-in-arr/

Moving over to the freelance world, we’re seeing a massive pivot at Fiverr. In their 2025 year-end report, they revealed a "quality over quantity" strategy. While they actually lost 14% of their active buyers, the ones who stayed are spending more—average spend per buyer is up 13% to over $340.

Fiverr is shifting away from the "five-dollar gig" and moving toward high-end, professional business outsourcing. They’re calling 2026 a "reset year" as they re-architect the platform to be AI-native. Along with this shift, they’ve promoted long-time CFO Ofer Katz to President to focus on strategy and acquisitions.

Meanwhile, Upwork is signaling confidence in its own value, announcing a $300 million share repurchase program. This brings their total authorizations to $600 million since late 2023. Both platforms are clearly positioning themselves as high-value enterprise partners rather than just job boards for quick tasks.

https://hrtechfeed.com/fiverr-shifts-focus-to-high-end-work-as-ai-transforms-the-gig-economy-2025-results-and-2026-outlook/

https://hrtechfeed.com/upwork-announces-300-million-share-repurchase-program/

Finally, we close with the latest Appcast 2026 Recruitment Marketing Benchmark Report. The big takeaway? We are officially in the "Great Stay." It’s a "low-hire, low-fire" environment. People aren't quitting, and the wage premium for job-hoppers has evaporated—it's now nearly the same as staying put. But don't let the slow movement fool you; recruiting isn't getting cheaper. The median cost-per-hire has risen to $1,053.

There’s a sharp divide between "sitting down" roles (like tech) where pools are crowded, and "standing up" roles (like healthcare) where costs-per-application are as high as $35. If you want to win in 2026, the data says: keep your applications under 5 minutes, disclose the salary, and post on Mondays. Averag cost per click is now around 92 cents by the way…

https://recruitingheadlines.com/2026-recruitment-marketing-navigating-the-great-stay/

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The recent Eightfold AI class action lawsuit is making waves in the recruitment technology industry, but it's not really about AI—it's about data protection and personal data sovereignty. In today’s podcast, industry experts Alex Murphy (CEO of JobSync) and Leah Daniels (COO of JobSync) break down what this lawsuit means for vendors, employers, and job seekers alike.

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Take2, an AI agents platform purpose-built for healthcare recruiting, today announced it has raised a $14 million Series A… The company’s first agent, the AI Interviewer, conducts phone interviews with candidates 24/7, evaluates them, records calls, and syncs results directly into applicant tracking systems — all with no human-in-the-loop. Trained on healthcare-specific hiring data, the platform helps organizations assess candidates more accurately while generating predictive insights that improve hiring quality and long-term retention. 

“Healthcare systems are under enormous pressure, and hiring is one of their biggest hidden costs,” said Yaniv Shimoni and Kaushik Narasimhan, co-founders of Take2. “We’re building AI agents that actually do the work — not just assist — so recruiting teams can focus on strategic decisions instead of time-consuming manual processes.”

https://hrtechfeed.com/take2-raises-14m-series-a-to-automate-healthcare-recruiting/

“Help me find an engineering job in Chicago…” 

A simple prompt like that can open a world of opportunity for a job seeker. Says Indeed

They just announced an expansion of their relationship with OpenAI, bringing Indeed’s massive job marketplace directly into the ChatGPT experience.

https://hrtechfeed.com/indeed-now-integrated-with-chatgpt/

Phenom, announced the acquisition of Be Applied, an AI‑driven cognitive assessment solution that validates candidate and employee capabilities at scale. By combining Phenom’s AI with Be Applied’s evidence‑based assessments, enterprises can confidently move to skills‑first hiring without sacrificing speed, quality or fairness.

https://hrtechfeed.com/phenom-acquires-cognitive-assessment-platform/

Recruit Holdings just dropped its Q3 FY2025 results

The U.S. labor market has been characterized as “stabilizing” or even “softer” lately, with job postings declining from their post-pandemic peaks. However, Recruit’s U.S. revenue tells a different story:

Revenue Surge: U.S. HR Technology revenue grew 10.1% year-over-year in dollar terms this quarter.

https://hrtechfeed.com/high-tech-high-growth-recruit-holdings-u-s-engine-revs-up-in-q3/

 Workday, Inc. announced that co-founder and current executive chair Aneel Bhusri is returning as chief executive officer as the company enters its next chapter, focused on leading in the rapidly evolving AI era. Carl Eschenbach is stepping down as CEO and as a member of the board after leading Workday through a period defined by global growth, an expanded industry focus, and strengthened operational discipline. He will continue to support Bhusri and the company as strategic advisor to the CEO.

https://hrtechfeed.com/workday-announces-ceo-transition-as-co-founder-aneel-bhusri-returns-to-lead-the-companys-next-chapter/

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In a candid conversation with Chris Russell on the RecTech Podcast, Greenhouse CEO Daniel Chait reveals the company's bold pivot to focus on job seekers alongside employers. After 14 years of helping companies hire better, Greenhouse is tackling what Chait calls the "AI Doom Loop"—a vicious cycle where job seekers use AI to mass-apply to hundreds of jobs while overwhelmed employers deploy AI filters to narrow down thousands of undifferentiated applications, tightening the window for candidates and perpetuating the problem. To break this cycle, Greenhouse is launching features like My Dream Job (allowing candidates one premium application per month that converts at five times the normal rate), My Greenhouse Portal (enabling real-time application status tracking), and Greenhouse Verified Badges (rewarding employers who communicate transparently). The company's newly launched Real Talent product adds three layers of trust: candidate intent matching, bad actor detection, and identity verification—all audited monthly for bias. Looking ahead, Chait envisions a future where AI agents represent candidates dynamically rather than static resumes, and where AI-driven interviews are fairer and more consistent than human ones. With over 60 million job applications processed quarterly, Greenhouse is investing millions in AI solutions throughout 2026 to reimagine hiring for everyone, not just employers.

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