Ep 49 Skills-First Revolution: Kyle MK on Redefining Talent Acquisition

Did you know that 81% of jobs on Indeed are now matched to candidates based on skills, not degrees? Yet talent acquisition leaders struggle as employer expectations outpace candidate realities—creating a crisis where high hopes and rigid requirements collide. With only a small fraction of job seekers filling out "what do you want to do" fields on job sites (according to Indeed), recruitment faces unprecedented disconnect, making it urgent for employers to rethink old hiring playbooks. Only by embracing new approaches, organizations can seize the skills-first hiring opportunity to future-proof their teams.What should forward-thinking organizations do when the rules of hiring are being rewritten at record speed? In this episode of the Time to Hire podcast from the 2025 RPOA Annual Conference, host Lamees Abourahma welcomes Kyle MK, Indeed’s Senior Talent Strategy Advisor and bestselling author, to explain how skills-first frameworks—and smart use of AI—are transforming the way employers attract and retain talent.Indeed is a sponsor of the 2025 RPOA Annual Conference and a Gold Partner of the RPO Association. Learn about and find more content from the 2025 RPOA Annual Conference here. About the PodcastTime to Hire is produced by the Recruitment Process Outsourcing Association (RPOA), the leading authority on recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) foresight and innovation, and the trusted convener for the global RPO community. Through conversations with industry leaders, the podcast explores the trends, insights, and innovations shaping the future of talent acquisition.Learn more about RPOA and join the community at: https://www.rpoassociation.org.Follow the host, Lamees Abourahma, on LinkedIn.