AI is streamlining recruitment processes but lacks the ability to assess human qualities essential for building strong teams.
Tanner Gesell of Valley Mountain Staffing warns against over-reliance on AI, emphasizing the importance of human insight in hiring.
Companies should focus on strategic hiring for growth rather than just filling positions, combining technology with human judgment.
With the American economy under strain, the Trump Administration is charting a course aimed at reviving domestic manufacturing. Meanwhile, AI is streamlining recruitment, but it can’t solve manufacturing’s core challenge: people. In this hands-on industry, real growth depends on human skills, not just tech.
Manufacturing recruitment expert Tanner Gesell, Co-Founder of Valley Mountain Staffing, is among those cautioning against over-reliance on technology at the expense of the human touch. He argues that while AI can efficiently screen resumes and fill quotas, it lacks the finesse to assess traits like propensity for collaboration, leadership, or alignment with company values.
The indispensable human: “If you want to just fill seats and hire to make up the numbers for your business, you can probably get away with using AI,” Gesell says. “But if you want to hire a transformational team of people that are going to build a culture for you, and have your company go to that next step, AI is not equipped to do that.”
Hasty hires, lingering lessons: He suggests companies can learn valuable lessons by looking back at past hiring surges. The post-COVID great resignation, for example, saw many businesses make “branch hires”—hurried decisions to simply fill empty positions, with some candidates brought on quickly at the expense of thorough vetting for skills, culture fit, or long-term potential. Gesell advises companies to look back at KPIs and metrics they had in place before the great resignation. “Companies made branch hires, they rushed things, they just tried to put as many bodies in seats as they could, but what you get from that is not the best talent.”
The curiosity factor: What makes a candidate stand out, beyond what an algorithm might detect on a resume? Gesell champions “curiosity” as an invaluable soft skill. “It’s something that I try to find in every candidate,” he says. Curious individuals ask the right questions. “These are generally the candidates that are thinking on a higher level, the people that dive into asking what the company culture, or the role, is like.”
AI’s double edge: Gesell worries that excessive reliance on AI in the recruitment process can result in automatic rejection of strong candidates due to unconventional resume formats, resume keyword mismatches, or atypical career paths. “Resumes do some good highlighting skills, but until you have a conversation with that person, it’s just a piece of paper,” he says. The well-known instance of Amazon having to scrap an AI recruiting tool because it showed bias against female candidates further highlights these potential dangers.
Tech savvy, people smart: Gesell also considers how AI affects candidates. He believes that with AI playing a significant factor in the recruitment process, candidates who understand and can use technology effectively will likely “have a head start on the guy who has never really looked into technology and is just relying on their people skills.” This technological savvy, however, does not diminish the need for fundamental human skills.
Building, not just backfilling: Ultimately, Gesell says, his job is more fulfilling when he works with organizations that are hiring for a higher purpose than just backfilling empty seats. “They’re in the mindset of growth and they’re trying to be proactive. ‘One to two more hires and this department is going to help us grow exponentially,’ is the idea,” he says. This focus reinforces the core idea that true, sustainable growth demands more than just algorithmic efficiency. It requires the right people, carefully chosen.
AI is streamlining recruitment processes but lacks the ability to assess human qualities essential for building strong teams.
Tanner Gesell of Valley Mountain Staffing warns against over-reliance on AI, emphasizing the importance of human insight in hiring.
Companies should focus on strategic hiring for growth rather than just filling positions, combining technology with human judgment.
Valley Mountain Staffing
With the American economy under strain, the Trump Administration is charting a course aimed at reviving domestic manufacturing. Meanwhile, AI is streamlining recruitment, but it can’t solve manufacturing’s core challenge: people. In this hands-on industry, real growth depends on human skills, not just tech.
Manufacturing recruitment expert Tanner Gesell, Co-Founder of Valley Mountain Staffing, is among those cautioning against over-reliance on technology at the expense of the human touch. He argues that while AI can efficiently screen resumes and fill quotas, it lacks the finesse to assess traits like propensity for collaboration, leadership, or alignment with company values.
The indispensable human: “If you want to just fill seats and hire to make up the numbers for your business, you can probably get away with using AI,” Gesell says. “But if you want to hire a transformational team of people that are going to build a culture for you, and have your company go to that next step, AI is not equipped to do that.”
Hasty hires, lingering lessons: He suggests companies can learn valuable lessons by looking back at past hiring surges. The post-COVID great resignation, for example, saw many businesses make “branch hires”—hurried decisions to simply fill empty positions, with some candidates brought on quickly at the expense of thorough vetting for skills, culture fit, or long-term potential. Gesell advises companies to look back at KPIs and metrics they had in place before the great resignation. “Companies made branch hires, they rushed things, they just tried to put as many bodies in seats as they could, but what you get from that is not the best talent.”
The curiosity factor: What makes a candidate stand out, beyond what an algorithm might detect on a resume? Gesell champions “curiosity” as an invaluable soft skill. “It’s something that I try to find in every candidate,” he says. Curious individuals ask the right questions. “These are generally the candidates that are thinking on a higher level, the people that dive into asking what the company culture, or the role, is like.”
Valley Mountain Staffing
AI’s double edge: Gesell worries that excessive reliance on AI in the recruitment process can result in automatic rejection of strong candidates due to unconventional resume formats, resume keyword mismatches, or atypical career paths. “Resumes do some good highlighting skills, but until you have a conversation with that person, it’s just a piece of paper,” he says. The well-known instance of Amazon having to scrap an AI recruiting tool because it showed bias against female candidates further highlights these potential dangers.
Tech savvy, people smart: Gesell also considers how AI affects candidates. He believes that with AI playing a significant factor in the recruitment process, candidates who understand and can use technology effectively will likely “have a head start on the guy who has never really looked into technology and is just relying on their people skills.” This technological savvy, however, does not diminish the need for fundamental human skills.
Building, not just backfilling: Ultimately, Gesell says, his job is more fulfilling when he works with organizations that are hiring for a higher purpose than just backfilling empty seats. “They’re in the mindset of growth and they’re trying to be proactive. ‘One to two more hires and this department is going to help us grow exponentially,’ is the idea,” he says. This focus reinforces the core idea that true, sustainable growth demands more than just algorithmic efficiency. It requires the right people, carefully chosen.
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