In January 2026, Recruit Holdings participated in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. While there, President and CEO Hisayuki “Deko” Idekoba and Indeed Hiring Lab Chief Economist Svenja Gudell spoke at panel discussions hosted by the Wall Street Journal, sharing their perspectives on how AI is reshaping the global labor market. This blog highlights the key insights from those conversations.

Indeed’s Role in Simplifying the Hiring Process is More Critical Than Ever

In the session “Reading the Labor Market in Real Time,” Deko sat down with Wall Street Journal moderator Phillippa Leighton-Jones to discuss the current state of the global labor market, how AI is reshaping hiring, and what the AI era means for skills.

He began by directly challenging a common assumption. “While the labor market is cooling, this is not because AI is taking jobs.” Instead, he pointed to demographics. “The real shift we’re seeing is demographic change and an aging population. In the U.S. in 2025, only 400,000 people entered the labor market out of a population of 350 million. And this isn’t unique to the U.S. Every developed country is facing a shrinking labor supply.” In other words, the bigger structural issue isn’t AI-driven job loss; it’s fewer workers. In economies where the younger workforce is no longer growing, large-scale unemployment caused by AI is far less likely than many fear. “In fact,” Deko added, “Japan needs more AI to keep pace with its declining population.”

Phillippa then raised a key question: as AI makes it easier than ever to generate resumes and applications at scale, how does Indeed ensure that employers find candidates with genuine skills and original thinking?

Deko acknowledged that the surge in AI-generated applications is already shaping hiring dynamics. With job seekers using AI services to apply to thousands of jobs, employers are receiving more applications than ever before. But for employers, that volume can quickly become noise.

To address this, he explained, Indeed is deploying AI to improve signal over scale. “We’re bringing AI-powered screening and sourcing tools to the market, along with stronger ID verification. Verification is becoming increasingly important for employers.

“We make 27 hires every minute globally through Indeed, so accuracy really matters. We have to reduce mismatches and improve employer productivity. Employers don’t want more applications. They want better matches.”

He reiterated that employers are ultimately seeking high-quality candidates, not sheer volume, and that Indeed’s ability to simplify the hiring process for business clients has become more valuable than ever.

When asked about the labor market impact of stricter immigration policies in some countries, Deko pointed to the reality of existing skill shortages.

“Most developed countries don’t have a strong pipeline of skilled workers. In the U.S., one in four healthcare workers is an immigrant, and we need even more skilled professionals to care for aging populations.”

He also highlighted the sharp rise in hiring demand. “Hiring demand for nurses, for example, is about 50% higher than before COVID. And in the past two years, even restaurant and food service roles are taking 50 to 60% longer to fill.”

In this context, he posed a direct question. “What happens if we stop accepting immigrants under these conditions? We would likely need much more time to build a talent pipeline.”

You can watch the full video of Deko’s session for more insights.

The Wall Street Journal’s Phiillippa Leighton-Jones (left) and Recruit Holdings Hisayuki “Deko” Idekoba (right)

AI Will Expand and Complement Jobs: Not Replace Them

Svenja joined the session “AI and the Changing World of Work,” alongside Wall Street Journal moderator Raakhee Mirchandani, Francine Katsoudas of Cisco, and Ramji Sundararajan of Udemy to discuss how AI is reshaping the labor market.

Echoing Deko’s earlier remarks, Svenja emphasized that “the labor market is cooling due to macroeconomic factors such as aging populations. At this point, AI is not causing large-scale layoffs or completely replacing humans.”

She pointed to data from the AI at Work report published by Indeed Hiring Lab in 2025: “Of the 3,000 skills analyzed, only 30 can be fully performed by AI^*1. And there wasn’t a single job that could be entirely replaced by AI. AI won't take jobs away — it will expand and complement them, changing the nature of work.”

Addressing concerns about entry-level roles, she added, “We keep hearing that AI might be replacing entry level jobs, especially in tech. We don’t think that’s what’s happening. There are fewer entry level roles, but that’s because there are fewer jobs out there.”

However, she noted a structural shift within the sector: “In tech, we’re seeing a significant increase in job descriptions requiring five or more years of experience. Companies are looking for leaders, people who can manage teams, oversee systems and even supervise AI agents. We think that’s one of the earliest impacts of AI that we’re seeing, particularly in tech.”

When asked how companies should respond in this age of AI, Svenja was clear that experimentation is essential. “Employers need to experiment. You have to go through this phase to understand where you want to be in one, two, or five years. At the same time, workforce planning is critical, companies need to think carefully about the skills they’ll need in the future.”

She also tempered expectations around productivity gains. “We’re not yet seeing major increases in productivity. That’s expected. We’re still in an early stage of experimentation, figuring out what works, and investing heavily along the way.”

Svenja concluded with a broader perspective: “The labor market is incredibly complex. AI will absolutely shape the future of work, but it’s only one of many forces at play.” She added, “I believe data needs to be our guiding light, helping us understand emerging trends and how to use them to our advantage.”

You can watch Svenja's session here, and read the full report on the global labor market and hiring trends on Indeed Hiring Lab's Davos website.

From left: Raakhee Mirchandani of The Wall Street Journal, Ramji Sundararajan of Udemy, Francine Katsoudas of Cisco, and Svenja Gudell of Indeed

Hisayuki “Deko” Idekoba

Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd.

Hisayuki "Deko" Idekoba is a seasoned leader with a proven track record of driving innovation and growth across two-sided marketplaces. Currently, he serves as Representative Director, President and CEO of Recruit Holdings, and President and CEO of Indeed.
Previously, Deko led Recruit’s acquisition of Indeed and later became its CEO. He also led the acquisition of Glassdoor in 2018 and was appointed Head of Recruit’s HR Technology Business in 2021. Under his leadership, Recruit’s HR technology brands – including Indeed and Glassdoor – have evolved into the world’s leading HR matching services.
Earlier in his career, Deko was instrumental in leading the digital transformation of several Recruit Group businesses, including Jalan, a travel service, and Hot Pepper Beauty, a salon reservation platform. He successfully transitioned these services from print to digital, helping to normalize online booking in Japan.

Svenja Gudell

Chief Economist, Indeed

Svenja oversees the Indeed Hiring Lab, an economics research team of economists and data scientists leading the global labor market conversation. She joined Indeed as Chief Economist in January 2022 after exploring and explaining the real estate market as Chief Economist at Zillow for 10 years.