Welcome to the Jungle launches all-in-one hiring suite

Welcome to the Jungle has launched the Welcome Hiring Suite, a recruitment platform for employers and candidates designed to bring several hiring tools into one system.

The launch comes as recruiters face rising application volumes and wider use of artificial intelligence in hiring. Recruiters process an average of 5,300 applications a year, the company said, and 77% do not match the role being filled.

Operating in job matching and employer branding, Welcome to the Jungle says the suite combines four parts of the recruitment process: employer branding, job matching, candidate sourcing and an applicant tracking system. The platform gives employers access to a pool of more than 20 million candidates, including two million available only through its service.

The platform was rebuilt for a market in which many employers rely on separate job boards, applicant tracking systems, customer relationship management tools, sourcing tools and branding products. Welcome to the Jungle argues that this fragmented approach adds cost and administrative work while making the hiring process less consistent for candidates.

The new system is intended to automate screening and administrative tasks that usually take up recruiters' time. According to the company, it can cut application screening from three hours to 10 minutes, reduce job post creation from one hour to five minutes and save hiring managers up to six hours on each vacancy.

Market pressure

The launch also comes amid a difficult labour market backdrop. The company pointed to a rise in the number of young people in the UK who are not in education, employment or training, with the total nearing one million.

Welcome to the Jungle says it drew on experience from working with more than 50,000 hiring managers who have recruited more than 500,000 people through its platform. It also surveyed more than 500 companies in France and the UK while developing the product.

A central part of the pitch is that AI should not make final hiring decisions. Instead, the system is designed to handle repetitive tasks such as pre-screening, CV filtering and communications, while recruiters make the final judgement.

Its matching tools are designed to surface candidates whose profiles may not fit standard keyword searches, including career changers, recent graduates and applicants with non-traditional work histories. That reflects a broader shift in recruitment away from simply generating large numbers of applicants and towards improving the share of applications that lead to interviews.

Candidate focus

For job seekers, the platform is intended to reduce unnecessary scrolling through listings, improve updates during the hiring process and provide more detail about employers' culture and values. The company says it has produced more than 20,000 photo and video shoots since it was founded to support employer profiles.

According to Welcome to the Jungle, 82% of users say the platform has influenced their choice of employer. The service remains free for job seekers, while employers are offered a single annual pricing model that combines the suite's functions.

The platform was developed with attention to European and French data protection and transparency rules. Welcome to the Jungle added that its AI models were deployed with a focus on explainability and protecting candidate and employer data.

Founded in 2015, the company has 270 employees and 4,500 clients across France and the UK. The launch marks an effort to expand from a job platform and branding service into a broader software provider for recruitment teams.

"The recruitment landscape is in the middle of a seismic shift. Hiring managers are under pressure to make the right hire with fewer resources, while at the same time, the number of applications to an open role is rising exponentially - fuelled at least in part by AI. But we know hiring managers aren't just looking for someone who can do the role, they're looking for someone who belongs in it. It's not about hiring faster, it's about hiring the right person for the role.

Our expertise in the recruitment industry means we've been able to create a new platform that's built from the ground up with AI at its core to help recruiters cut through the noise. It saves time and money so they can focus on finding their people, making the Welcome Hiring Suite the shortest path to connecting with talent that truly fits," said Jérémy Clédat, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Welcome to the Jungle.