New report reveals AI might be falling short of HR teams' expectations
Hiring for Australia's vacant roles is now taking five days longer than last year, according to a new report, which found that employment outcomes have yet to get better despite AI adoption across HR teams.
Findings from the 2026ELMOHR Industry Benchmark report revealed that it is now taking 25 days to fill vacant roles, longer than the 20 days recorded in 2025.
The wait before new hires can be productive has also reached 44 days, longer than the 34 days a year ago.
The findings come despite the widespread adoption of AI tools by HR teams, which were expected to boost productivity and workforce outcomes as they get deployed in hiring processes.
Many organisations are focusing on deploying AI tools, but the real challenge is workforce capability, said ELMO Software President Joseph Lyons.
The issue comes in the wake of thejob-hugging trend hitting Australia, as turnover rates drop for the first time in four years and the number of employees leaving during probation declines to nine per cent.
Lyons said this issue can be a great opportunity for leaders to invest in upskilling and career development.
Embedding AI capability and continuous learning intoonboardingwill be critical to helping employees adapt as roles and workflows evolve, the report read.
That's exactly why organisations are starting to think about AI not as a standalone tool, but as part of a connected workforce platform that supports the full employee lifecycle.
AI falls short of HR expectations
The longer wait for hiring and productivity illustrates an aspectwhere AI might be underdeliveringfor HR teams.
According to the report, 80% of organisations and 93% of HR teams are already using AI.
Nearly a third (32%) of HR leaders last year expected AI to be transformative for their organisation. However, only 15% of them said it actually delivered.
The report attributed this underperformance to how HR professionals use AI, with 55% of them saying they only use the technology occasionally.
Occasionally using an AI tool or a large language model, however, will not lead to true organisational transformation, Lyons said.
We're seeing a capability gap between AI readiness and actual impact. The focus now is on moving beyond standalone tools and embedding AI into the systems that support how people are hired, onboarded, developed and managed.
Leading the AI adoption
Another factor hitting the full AI transformation is the confusion in workplaces on who should lead the technological adoption.
Only 12% of HR leaders believe they're in charge of this process, while 39% think it sits entirely with IT.
More than a third of business leaders believe it should be the C-suite (39%) or IT (35%) who should lead the organisational AI adoption.
When AI ownership sits in a grey zone between the C-Suite, IT, and HR, adoption stalls. Everyone expects progress, but no one is truly empowered to drive it end to end, said ELMO partner and Organisational Psychologist Amantha Imber, in a statement.
The fastest path forward is a clear responsibility map.
Further challenges in AI adoption
Meanwhile, 37% of HR leaders said challenges on data security and privacy are also key factors that hold back the effective use of AI tools at work.
More than a third (34%) also reported that they are seeing issues integrating AI with current systems. The difficulty in trusting AI output is also causing issues, with HR citing problems in:
·Validating outputs (31%)
·Inaccuracy (29%)
·AI slowing tasks down(18%)
If businesses don't fix foundational issues around data quality and integration, AI will continue to underdeliver, Lyons said.
Addressing these first will go a long way to properly equip organisations to turn adoption into strategic impact.
