The Rapidly Changing Talent Acquisition Landscape

Greg Muccio, Director Talent Acquisition, Southwest Airlines

As Director of Talent Acquisition, Greg Muccio is responsible for leading Southwest's Talent Acquisition Teams, employment branding, workforce development, and hiring strategy. It includes multiple Teams consisting of 300+ Leaders, Recruiters, Specialists, Analysts and Coordinators. Greg is in his 20th year with Southwest Airlines and has served the entire time in the People Department. Previous roles have included Manager, Team Leader and SR Recruiter. Prior to SWA, Greg was in the staffing industry for 3 ½ years with Pro Staff, serving as an onsite Manager, Direct Hire Specialist, and Account Rep.

What major challenges have you been witnessing in the market lately?

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced HR professionals to rethink the way they communicate with employees. The challenges faced during the pandemic can be solved by having a recruitment strategy. Companies started having a strong online presence for hiring employees remotely. However, there was no match between available resources and job growth. From the student's perspective, they want the information to help them make a decision faster, matching their requirements. Therefore, it becomes a necessity to frame a strategy that should be well programmed to incorporate all the key factors for the recruitment process. This framework should lead the recruiter to express themselves to the job candidates in the best way possible while collecting enough and accurate data from the job seeker. 

What do you think are some of the latest updates or trends in the TA space?

I believe the CRM trend has evolved in the past year. Today, it's very important for companies to understand if they are able to continue to resurface strong candidates. Especially in the Talent Acquisition space, the ability to use a variety of analytics is based on three pillars—to understand the global talent market, what is happening around in a broader perspective and specific roles. With CRM, it is as easy as possible for actual recruiters to have personalized conversations with candidates.

“With CRM, it is as easy as possible for actual recruiters to have personalized conversations with candidates”

Could you tell us about any latest project initiatives based on the trends you mentioned?

We helped a few Southwest departments transition to hybrid workplaces so they could have more freedom and flexibility. Due to the pandemic, everyone is now working remotely, and if we are not fully remote, we may not find the best candidates. Our call center staff members were permitted to work from home. A few days ago, we posted a job position, and we received 27,000 resumes. Previously, we never received more than 500 resumes for this position. Another one is simply allowing us to find our positions and advertise them to the appropriate audiences using paid media and other resources. We were able to learn what actually works, what doesn't work, and how to be more productive and efficient thanks to these data.

How do you envision the future of this space?

I think the talent acquisition industry will continue to experience a rapid digital shift. This translates to hiring the right talent that can make use of path-breaking technology and derive actionable insights from data for long-term growth. They will have a better chance of getting hired with the help of a job alert for a position they are interested in. They will receive an email for the same, and I believe it'll convert into a voice command soon. We already have Siri and Alexa giving it tough competition. Moreover, self-automation is also taking center stage here. It makes a lot of things easier for both candidate and the interviewer. 

What would be your single piece of advice for the upcoming professionals in this field? 

To the young professionals, I only have one piece of advice: do what's best for you. Any business can go for low tech and low touch, high tech and high touch, high touch and low tech, or high tech and low touch, among four options. Southeast decided to be high-tech and high-touch. There is no doubt that the workplace is undergoing a multi-fold transformation. Organizations realize that a new way of working is possible, and HR teams are exploring newer ways of managing teams and talent. However, the 'new normal' is here to stay, and we must arm ourselves with more than just masks and protective gear to stay ahead of the curve.