The Wesfarmers-owned retailer now leans on artificial intelligence to handle the first cut of candidates, a step that used to be entirely manual.
Instead of relying on human teams to sift through piles of applications, Kmart now routes candidates through an AI-driven screening process. The chatbot assesses every application the retailer receives, about 600,000 a year across its national network.
Human recruiters previously managed to review only a fraction of that volume, limiting how many applicants were seriously considered. The new system aims to widen that funnel while speeding up decisions.
Executives inside Kmart initially worried the chatbot might deepen bias in hiring, echoing concerns many employers have about algorithmic screening. Internal assessments suggest the technology is surfacing a broader and more diverse slice of applicants than human screeners managed before.
Bias is the main reason many organisations hesitate to deploy AI at scale in recruitment. The findings give Kmart a data point to push back against assumptions that these tools always entrench inequality.
Scepticism remains strong globally, and Kmart’s move lands as other platforms face intense scrutiny over automated decision-making. In the United States, Workday is defending a lawsuit that alleges its recruitment software filters out candidates based on age, race and disability.
The case highlights why regulators, advocacy groups and employers are watching AI hiring tools so closely. Kmart’s early experience looks more positive, but it sits in a landscape where trust in algorithmic recruitment is still fragile.
