PwC has created a blockchain tool to validate job candidates’ credentials and speed up the vetting and hiring process, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Global brands are struggling to identify, attract and retain talent. One of the real pain points is around the ability to validate [a candidate’s] credentials,” Seamus Cushley, director of a PwC team in the U.S. that helps companies understand blockchain, told the WSJ.
With the technology in place, staffers would no longer have to call universities and former employers for verification. But those schools and companies would need to join the blockchain for the vetting process to work.
Blockchain is becoming more widely used in the financial and retail industries. Around 11 percent of CIOs said they plan on deploying in the next year or have already deployed it, according to a 2019 survey by technology research firm Garter. More than 3,100 CIOs participated in the survey.
Mr. Cushley and his blockchain team started the “Smart Credentials” project last year. The blockchain tool is being used with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.
Through a website or mobile app, the institute can access the blockchain, adding a digital certificate proving an employee in question is a chartered accountant, Mr. Chushly told the WSJ. Similarly, an accountant applying for a job can grant employers specific access to credentials on the blockchain.
“Issuing a credential on a blockchain provides proof of when, where and by whom that credential was issued and can’t be changed, unlike a photo of someone’s certificate which could quite easily be digitally altered,” Mr. Cushley told the WSJ.
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