The Band-Aid Problem Holding HR Tech Back with Talentless Co-hosts Desiree Goldey and Ashley King

This series was recorded live at HR Tech 2025 inside the HR Executive studios on the expo floor in partnership with the WRKdefined Podcast Network. Make sure you’re subscribed to the full series and visit HRExecutive.com for the news, analysis, and insights shaping the future of work. Hiring teams are burnt out, candidates are overwhelmed, and tech is changing faster than anyone can keep up. Desiree Goldey and Ashley King break down what recruiters are actually dealing with right now, why the work feels heavier, and where the talent function needs to evolve next. No polish. No filters. Just two recruiters telling the truth. In this episode we speak with Desiree Goldey, Co-Host, Talentless, and Ashley King, Co-Host, Talentless, about recruiter burnout, broken expectations, messy hiring pipelines, candidate fatigue, and the gap between HR tech promises and real recruiter workflows. Key Takeaways Recruiters are carrying emotional labor no one talks about Hiring velocity hides broken processes Candidates are overwhelmed by noisy pipelines Most teams are under-skilled in real candidate communication Tech doesn’t fix chaos if leaders don’t change behavior Burnout is coming from expectations, not workload Honest feedback loops are missing across TA Chapters 00:00 Why recruiting feels heavier 01:10 The emotional load of TA 02:04 Candidate chaos in 2025 03:22 Broken communication loops 04:40 When tech makes it worse 06:15 Burnout signals recruiters ignore 07:30 What leaders still don’t get 08:55 Where the function needs to go Host Desiree Goldey, Co-Host, Talentless Podcast Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/desireegoldey/ Ashley King, Co-Host, Talentless Podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleykingdei/ Connect with WRKdefined Site: http://www.wrkdefined.com TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined Twitter: https://twitter.com/WRKdefined Substack: https://wrkdefined.substack.com/