Artificial intelligence innovations in talent recruitment, retention, diversity mapping within South Africa: A meta narrative analysis

Ashika Maharaj ,Grace Oluwafunmilayo Obalade

doi:10.24294/jipd10352

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Artificial intelligence innovations in talent recruitment, retention, diversity mapping within South Africa: A meta narrative analysis

Ashika Maharaj

Grace Oluwafunmilayo Obalade

Journal of Infrastructure Policy and Development 2025, 9(2), 10352; https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd10352

Submitted：15 Nov 2024

Accepted：20 Dec 2024

Published：05 Mar 2025

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Abstract

This paper uses existing studies to explore how Artificial Intelligence (AI) advancements enhance recruitment, retention, and the effective management of a diverse workforce in South Africa. The extensive literature review revealed key themes used to contextualize the study. This study uses a meta-narrative approach to literature to review, critique and express what the literature says about the role of AI in talent recruitment, retention and diversity mapping within South Africa. An unobtrusive research technique, documentary analysis, is used to analyze literature. The findings reveal that South Africa’s Human Resource Management (HRM) landscape, marked by a combination of approaches, provides an opportunity to cultivate alternative methods attuned to contextual conditions in the global South. Consequently, adopting AI in recruiting, retaining, and managing a diverse workforce demands a critical examination of the colonial/apartheid past, integrating contemporary realities to explore the potential infusion of contextually relevant AI innovations in managing South Africa’s workforce.

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