A widening skills gap and increased reliance on contract workers is driving demand for technology investment, according to Talent Tech Labs 2017 State of Talent Acquisition Technology report.

 Some 45% of HR and talent acquisition leaders surveyed cited candidate sourcing technology as the area most likely to see rapid investment and development, almost twice as high as the next area for growth — talent engagement tools at 26%. Selection/assessment and onboarding tools followed at 19% and 6% respectively.

The report found 69% of respondents surveyed cited the skills shortage as their greatest recruiting concern, and that number rises to 80% for those who fill more than 2,500 roles per year; additionally, 80% of HR and talent acquisition leaders voiced concern that a shortage of work visas will make talent acquisition more difficult. Hence, utilization of the independent workforce continues to rise, and 79% of talent acquisition leaders expect their role in securing nonemployee talent — historically a role filled by corporate procurement — to increase over the next one to two years.

“Throughout history, innovative technology has proven itself to be the greatest enabler of change, and this is certainly the case in the talent acquisition space,” said Talent Tech Labs President Brian Delle Donne. “It comes as no surprise to us that leading businesses are relying on the latest technology to develop creative workforce solutions meant to bridge the gap between today’s challenges and the future of work.”

The “most innovative” tools point to solutions most likely to see increased adoption in future include:

• Employer branding: 33%
• Mobile recruitment: 27%
• Analytics platform: 27%
• Candidate relationship management: 25%
• Video interviewing: 25%
• Online assessments: 21%
• Referral platform: 15%
• Job marketing and distribution: 15%
• Chat bots/AI enhanced processing: 11%
• Digital reference checks: 4%

The online survey included 189 senior talent acquisition and HR leaders was conducted between April 11 and May 5, 2017; 80% of participants identified as C-level, VP or director of talent acquisition. New York-based Talent Tech Labs researches talent acquisition technologies and has tracked more than 1,500 technology companies in the talent acquisition space since it was founded in 2012.