Trust and procedural justice mediate the effects of AI hiring on organizational attraction and intent to apply

Abstract The growing emphasis on human capital has made it more critical for organizations to effectively attract, select, hire, onboard, utilize, and retain talent. While the integration of AI in recruitment offers unprecedented efficiency, scalability, reduced human bias, and optimized talent acquisition, its introduction generates challenges that may influence applicants’ perceptions and behavioral intentions. Based on signaling and organizational justice theories, the lack of human relational cue and AI’s transparency algorithms may lead job applicants to wonder whether the hiring process is trustworthy and procedurally just. Such challenges may alter not only how applicants interpret organizational values, but also whether they choose to complete the application process at all. Therefore, this study examines how AI-driven versus human-driven hiring processes influence trust, procedural justice, organizational attraction, and intent to apply. We further demonstrate how trust and procedural justice shape the relationship between hiring process and organizational attraction and applicants’ intention to apply during the early recruitment stage. An experimental survey of students indicated that applicants perceive AI use in the hiring process as less trustworthy, less just, and less attractive. They also showed less interest in applying for open positions at organizations leveraging AI in the hiring process. Increasing applicants’ trust in the hiring process and providing opportunities to effectively communicate and demonstrate their skills can positively alter perceptions and behavioral intentions of applicants. These findings challenge simplistic assumptions that technological efficiency equates to strategic effectiveness and instead emphasize the centrality of relational cues in attracting talent in an AI-enabled hiring landscape.