Rec Tech: the Recruiting Technology Podcast

Ben Mones on Workplace Misconduct and Social Media Screening Report: https://hubs.ly/Q048s49T0 Guest: Ben Mones, CEO of Fama Technologies In this episode, Ben discusses the rising tide of workplace misconduct and why modern screening practices need to evolve with the workforce. With six generations now in the workplace—most of them digital natives—traditional background checks are no longer enough. Key Takeaways: Misconduct is surging: Fama's latest report shows a 34% year-over-year increase in online misconduct signals, including trolling, violence, threats, and drug references 08:55 LinkedIn is becoming problematic: The platform has seen the biggest explosion of misconduct, with users migrating from Twitter and other platforms bringing problematic behavior with them 11:30 Screening strategy must match your workforce: With half the workplace now being Gen Z and millennials with extensive social media histories, employers need to adapt their screening sources and methods 03:30 AI enables nuanced evaluation: Modern AI can distinguish between casual language and genuine threats, allowing for more sophisticated screening than simple keyword matching 14:00 Transparency builds trust: When employers openly communicate their screening practices and values, candidates actually appreciate it—most want to work somewhere that screens for intolerance and harassment 18:38 The Future: Expect more explainable, behavior-based AI systems that track candidates over time and provide longitudinal insights—moving beyond binary "pass/fail" evaluations to more nuanced talent assessment. Learn more at Fama.io -https://app.fireflies.ai/view/Ben-Fama-RecTech-Podcast-copy-::01KMV291F636VVGFNRJMAYAJ59?utm_source=AskFredResponseCopied Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SAN FRANCISCO — Crosschq today announced the acquisition of Traitify, a leading assessment platform for frontline and high-volume hiring, advancing its mission to build the industry’s first outcome-trained foundation model for hiring. https://hrtechfeed.com/crosschq-announces-acquisition-of-traitify/ SAN FRANCISCO — Lattice, the HCM platform announced the acquisition of Mandala’s AI-native coaching technology and the addition of its founder, Tarun Galagali. https://hrtechfeed.com/lattice-acquires-ai-coaching-platform/ NEW YORK — Sona, the AI platform powering scheduling, HR, payroll and other business-critical workflows, has raised $45 million in Series B funding led by N47, with participation from existing investors … this brings its total funding to over $100 million. The round will accelerate Sona’s US expansion and bring forward a decade of planned platform capabilities into customers’ hands within a matter of months. https://hrtechfeed.com/sona-raises-45m-series-b/ https://hrtechfeed.com/salary-com-unveils-max-ai-to-automate-compensation-management-and-real-time-market-intelligence/ KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—Tracker, the AI-native ATS and CRM platform built for staffing and recruiting agencies, today announced that it is among the first applicant tracking systems to go live with LinkedIn’s RSC+ integration, enabling Connected Projects for LinkedIn Hiring Assistant customers. https://hrtechfeed.com/tracker-ats-integrates-with-linkedin-hiring-assistant/ Salary.com, a pioneer in the compensation data industry for over 25 years, announced a major evolution in its platform this week with the launch of Max, a purpose-built AI designed to revolutionize how HR departments handle pay decisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The landscape for federal contractors has changed overnight. With the revocation of Executive Order 11246, the dramatic restructuring of the OFCCP, and the finalized 2026 federal budget, the “old way” of managing affirmative action is officially obsolete. Is your organization prepared for the new enforcement era? Join Jobsync for an exclusive virtual briefing led by a premier employment law attorney and compliance consultant. We’ll cut through the noise of the recent agency downsizing to show you exactly where the Department of Labor is shifting its focus—and where your greatest legal risks now lie. Speakers: Amanda Bowman is Director and Principal Consultant at DCI Consulting Group in the Workforce Analytics and Compliance Strategy team. Amanda joined DCI as an Analyst in September 2010. Amanda provides clients with guidance on EEO and affirmative action statutes and regulations to meet the OFCCP compliance requirements. Amanda’s primary focus is to provide support for clients on affirmative action planning, compensation equity analyses, audits, and employment discrimination. She also is involved in testing and selection projects, including job analyses, test validation, and validity generalization research.  Sheila Abron is a partner at Fisher Phillips, LLP. Certified as a Specialist in Employment and Labor Law by the South Carolina Supreme Court, Sheila represents companies and educational institutions—large and small—as they navigate employment issues related to hiring, discipline, investigations, employment discrimination, unemployment, and other related issues. As Chair of the Firm’s Government Contracting, Compliance, and Reporting practice group, she has extensive experience providing compliance advice to federal contractors on affirmative action and OFCCP regulations and audits. Sheila also has a wealth of experience working on collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and class actions under wage and hour state laws. She is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adzuna, the global job search platform, today announced the acquisition of the jobs businesses of Trovit and Mitula, two market-leading search engines operated by the Lifull Connect group. The acquisition marks Adzuna’s third acquisition in four years, further strengthening its position as one of the world’s leading global job search platforms. https://hrtechfeed.com/adzuna-acquires-2-job-search-engines/ SILICON VALLEY, Calif. — Today, Novaworks, the AI-native Human Capital Management (HCM) operating system for the enterprise built on the ServiceNow platform, announced its launch in conjunction with $8M in seed funding led by Stalwart Ventures, with strategic participation from ServiceNow Ventures and Bell Ventures. The Company also introduced the first agentic operating system for Total Workforce Management (TWM) https://hrtechfeed.com/workforce-management-platform-lands-8m/ Following an intensive build phase with early customers, Deel announced the general availability of its fully integrated ATS. Unlike standalone recruiting tools that stop at the offer stage, Deel’s ATS is built directly on top of Deel’s HRIS. This drives quicker hiring and productivity with ATS and HR on a single platform.  https://hrtechfeed.com/big-deel-eor-platform-adds-ats/ Healthcare workforce platform Carefam has emerged from stealth mode, announcing $14.5 million in funding led by Pitango HealthTech with participation from Emerge. https://hrtechfeed.com/healthcare-recruiting-platform-lands-14-5m/ SAN FRANCISCO — Ezra, a voice AI interviewing platform built for recruiting teams looking for reliable signals to assess talent, and candidates who want to be heard, announced today that it has raised a $3.2 million seed round  https://hrtechfeed.com/voice-ai-interview-platform-lands-3-2m-seed-round/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recruiting platform Paraform has raised $40 million in Series B funding,... https://hrtechfeed.com/recruiting-platform-paraform-has-raised-40-million-in-series-b/ Findem, the AI platform for talent outcomes, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Glider AI, a skills validation platform. Together, the companies will deliver an AI-powered hiring solution that produces hire-ready candidates—candidates who are discovered, assessed and verified before they reach hiring managers. https://hrtechfeed.com/findem-to-acquire-glider-ai/ Workable announced the launch of Workable Agent, an AI recruiting agent built directly into its ATS. More than an add-on or isolated feature, Workable Agent brings agency-level recruiting capability directly inside the hiring platform. It acts as a full-cycle hiring teammate that helps teams define the job, source candidates, engage talent, and deliver qualified candidates ready for interview. https://hrtechfeed.com/workable-launches-agentic-ai-features/ iCIMS, announced its Spring 2026 product release this week, headlined by the launch of iCIMS Frontline AI. The new suite of tools is specifically engineered to help enterprises overcome the unique hurdles of high-volume hiring, such as candidate drop-off and the administrative burden on hiring managers. https://hrtechfeed.com/icims-unveils-ai-powered-spring-release-to-tackle-frontline-hiring-crisis/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here's audio from a case study with Varsity Brands a Phenom client recorded at IAMPHENOM in Philadelphia 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is your career site delivering the conversion you need? Dalia’s plug-and-play tech turns any employer career site into a high-performance candidate conversion engine — no replatforming required, live in days.Visit dalia.co to learn more. AND by jobcase, "Are you struggling to find the right talent in a crowded job market? Jobcase connects you to a massive community of over 120 million registered workers, including the hourly, skilled, and gig professionals that other job boards often miss. Visit jobcase.com/hire today to post your roles and start building the team you need with tools designed to make hiring fast and easy." 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/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices