Equitas App Ltd. is helping companies within the UK modernise their hiring processes with a remote, digital approach to interviewing. In the face of Covid-19 companies are struggling to adjust their hiring practices. Growth industries such as Food Retailers are not coping with high hiring volumes due to additional demand and lack of technology in their hiring process. Static industries like Finance are struggling to use a remote approach to find essential hires mid-crisis. Adversely affected industries have decreasing hiring rates according to LinkedIn research, Recreation & Travel (-47.1%), Entertainment (-25.8%) and Corporate Services (-15.4%). These industries also face the additional challenge of an increased pace of hiring once lockdown ends. The majority of these employers use a traditional, face to face, antiquated, paper-based approach to interviews. The key objective of this project is to transition employers to a completely digital approach with our interview software, allowing them to hire remotely and deal with the immediate challenges of Covid-19 and the volume of hiring they will face in the coming quarters. The core impact of our product will be reducing interviewer bias using a structured best practice approach to interviews, automation of the interview process with new voice technologies, improving efficiency and finally improving the employability of all candidates who are assessed. There will be a drastic rise in unemployment throughout this crisis with predictions of over two million people facing this hardship. We are designing our product to have a candidate-centric approach to ensure that they can improve their employability skills when interviewing with detailed auto-generated feedback reports. We will be offering employability upskilling and talent pooling services so we can refer job seekers to relevant employers with the use of our software, allowing as many people to find jobs as quickly as possible. Our overarching goal in the project is to help 10,000 people find new jobs. The key innovation of our product is the use of voice technology within interviews and technology to automate key interview processes.

Equitas' vision is to digitally transform the recruitment process in the healthcare sector in the UK & Ireland as Covid-19 has forced the industry to change the way they hire at scale. In this new world of work, many companies prepare to face another recession and with growing unemployment, healthcare providers will be under increased pressure to ensure their services and staffing levels are not impacted by these external pressures and further crises. They also need to ensure that they build diverse and inclusive workforces that represent the communities that they serve using fair hiring practices. This project has the following objectives: 1. Development of remote interview software allowing a smooth transition to remote hiring within the healthcare sector throughout the Covid-19 pandemic 2. Development of an open API to allow for seamless integration with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) or large candidate databases currently used by healthcare providers to manage candidates when they apply for a role allowing quick adoption within the sector 3. Development of a "Future of Work" competency framework for the healthcare sector as they transition into new ways of working and need new methods to assess candidates 4. The ability to collect demographic data from both interviewers and candidates to track diversity statistics and ensure fair hiring practices 5. The ability to ID check candidates pre-interview remotely in a digital waiting room to ensure compliance 6. The assessment of the impact Equitas interview software has on the diversity of hire within the healthcare sector from entry-level through to board level with diversity statistics 7. The assessment of time-saving on the administration tasks of interviews and how that time was spent more effectively on engaging with candidates and assessing them. Equitas App Ltd. is one of the UK's first voice-led interview software providers. They have developed revolutionary interview software to address the challenge of bias in the recruitment industry using a digital approach. The current product offers a best practice approach to interviewing, automating key parts of the interview process to reduce the cognitive load of interviewers in order to reduce bias. Equitas has built strategic partnerships with HR Technology providers in the healthcare industry over the last 12 months. This project would focus initially on two hospital groups and with two care home groups across the UK and Ireland. Post-project it can be rolled out sector-wide. Equitas' innovation will be enhanced through: 1. Remote delivery of interviews in one secure platform 2. Realtime ID checking prior to interviews 3. Improved ability to track demographic information to impact diversity and inclusion 4. Promotion of new best practice, fair, structured hiring practices in the healthcare sector