5 Summer Hiring Challenges AI Is Solving

The golden glow of late afternoon sun, the feel of bare feet on warm pavement, and the quiet joy of slowing down—summer is just around the corner. For many, it’s a season to relax and soak in the moment.

But if you're in industries like retail, hospitality, or tourism, summer tells a very different story. It’s go-time. These industries come alive during the warmer months, and that means one thing: it’s time to hire summer staff.

But with the pressure to find quality candidates in a short amount of time, summer hiring can be very challenging for talent teams. In the past, they had to muddle through this high-stress process, crossing their fingers that they’d hired the right people.

But thanks to the rise of AI, that story is changing. Today, hiring tools can help you move faster and hire better, even when applicant volume is at its highest. Let’s explore some of the biggest challenges of summer hiring—and how AI can help solve them.

Challenge #1: High application volume under tight deadlines

One of the biggest hurdles for recruiters during the summer hiring season is the time crunch. Hiring teams are suddenly tasked with reviewing a flood of applications, screening candidates, and scheduling interviews—all within a very short time. And with the traditional hiring process often taking anywhere from 2 weeks to 60 days, it’s just not built for the kind of speed seasonal hiring needs.

How AI Helps:

With AI-powered hiring tools, teams can automatically assess large volumes of applicants in a fraction of the time, quickly identifying the best matches based on role-specific skills and qualifications.

Using AI agents, like Hirevue’s candidate engagement tools, hiring teams can rely on science-powered AI to reason and adapt in real-time, even when unexpected challenges arise. Not only does this help get the right candidates to the right roles much faster, but it frees up recruiters to prioritize top candidates and get them in the door much faster.

Challenge #2: Low applicant engagement and high drop-off rates

It’s no secret that many application processes are tedious and frustrating for candidates.

From creating new usernames and passwords to re-entering the same information in an ATS already on their resume, candidates are often met with roadblock after roadblock. It’s no wonder that 92% of applicants drop off after clicking “apply.”

This is bad enough during regular hiring cycles. But for seasonal hires? Hiring teams can’t take that chance. They need a fast, efficient experience where candidates are guided through a process and left feeling like their time truly matters.

How AI helps:

Acting as a digital recruiter, AI tools ensure that every candidate feels seen and supported, even when human recruiters aren’t available.

That means there is no lag time or long, drawn-out processes. An AI-powered communicator can chat with a candidate, learn and adjust responses based on the candidate's needs, and screen them to ensure they can move onto the next stage of the process, just like a human would. All the while, candidates are constantly engaged, significantly reducing the drop-off rate.

Challenge #3: Finding candidates that will excel in the role

Talent teams only have a short window to bring summer hires on board, and while the job might be temporary, the stakes are high. A mis-hire can slow the entire operation during the busiest season.

And yet, it’s not just about filling roles quickly—it’s about finding candidates who will thrive. You need dependable, adaptable team members who can learn fast, work well under pressure, and positively represent your brand. But how can talent teams make sure they’re identifying those traits with so little time?

How AI Helps:

Rather than manually sorting through stacks of resumes (hoping to infer the right skills), recruiters can now use science-backed assessments to evaluate candidates on the qualities that matter most—like adaptability, reliability, and customer service skills.

With a library of validated assessments, talent teams can screen a high volume of applicants in less than 20 minutes, giving them a crystal-clear view of who’s ready to hit the ground running. It’s faster, smarter, and built for the pace of seasonal hiring.

Challenge #4: Scaling hiring efforts with a lean team

Summer hiring season brings a big challenge: already-busy talent teams are suddenly expected to handle a surge of seasonal hires on top of their regular workload. With limited time and resources, how can they juggle it all without burning out?

How AI Helps:

Think of AI as an extension of your recruiting team. It can chat with candidates, assess their skills, schedule interviews, and even conduct on-demand interviews around the clock. All while your team focuses on the high-impact work only humans can do, like nurturing relationships and making smart hiring decisions.

There’s no question that HR professionals who use AI see faster hiring—52% faster, according to our 2025 Global Guide to Hiring. But beyond speed, they also save hours of talent team time. Emirates Airlines, for example, reported 8000 hours of time their hiring teams saved after switching to AI-driven assessments.

Challenge #5: Inconsistent and subjective hiring decisions

When hiring teams are under pressure to fill roles quickly, it’s tempting to rely on gut instinct—choosing the candidate who seems charming, who interviews well, or who just feels like a “good fit.” It’s human nature. 

But hiring based on personality or personal connection can unintentionally sideline incredibly qualified candidates who simply didn’t have the chance to shine in a rushed or subjective process.

How AI Helps: 

AI takes the guesswork out of hiring by focusing on what really matters: a candidate’s skills, not their resume polish or where they went to school. With standardized assessments and structured interviews, every applicant is evaluated on the same criteria, ensuring a more level playing field.

The result? A more fair process that gives more people a shot and helps hiring teams uncover the right fit for the role, faster and more confidently.

Real-World Results: How one company scaled its hourly workforce—fast

When Ampol Australia needed to rapidly expand its retail team, it turned to Hirevue—and the results speak for themselves. In just two years, Ampol scaled from fewer than 800 hourly employees to nearly 6,000. That’s a 10x increase in workforce growth.

Even more impressive? Their talent acquisition team saved over 5,000 hours a year in the process.

“Without Hirevue, we simply couldn’t have handled that kind of volume with just our internal TA team,” shared Fiona Howard, Retail Program Lead.

Ready to see these same results this summer? Let Hirevue show you how to achieve smarter, faster, and more scalable hiring.