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Beyond the AI Hype: Why Human Touch Still Matters in Hiring with Charlie Saffro · Beyond Fulfillment Podcast

• 0:00
  Foreign.
• 0:06
  Dave Gulas here at Manifest and I ran into Charlie Saffro, founder of CS Recruiting.
• 0:12
  Hey Charlie.
• 0:12
  Hey Dave.
• 0:13
  How's it going?
• 0:14
  Going great.
• 0:15
  So yeah, we are talking about the vibe here at Manifest.
• 0:20
  So you're an industry veteran for a long time.
• 0:23
  What, what's the vibe like this year?
• 0:25
  Wow.
• 0:26
  Well, it's overwhelming in a really good way.
• 0:28
  I mean so many people in this industry coming together and wanting to share ideas network.
• 0:35
  But I would say the vibe is optimistic, which I have not felt in several years.
• 0:40
  So business seems to be coming back, especially in the freight side of the industry.
• 0:46
  So much innovation.
• 0:48
  I'd say companies are really talking about hiring and opportunistic hiring which again we haven't seen.
• 0:54
  We've seen a lot of, you know, hiring because of a backfill hiring because of a vacancy.
• 0:58
  But now I'm starting to see that shift that we saw in like 21:22 where it's like what if we could bring in someone who could help us differentiate or expand or build something new.
• 1:09
  So that's really encouraging and excited to hear sentiments like that.
• 1:13
  Absolutely right.
• 1:14
  And you mentioned freight.
• 1:16
  I'm sure we're all sick of hearing about the freight succession.
• 1:19
  Yes.
• 1:19
  Talking about for so many years.
• 1:21
  Right.
• 1:22
  So.
• 1:24
  So for companies.
• 1:25
  Right.
• 1:25
  Because the thing on everyone's mind always seems to be how do I get and retain that top 10?
• 1:32
  Right.
• 1:32
  And now in 2026 seems like candidates have so many options and there's so much AI has disrupted so much of the market.
• 1:43
  What do companies really need to be mindful of when they're looking to get that top 10?
• 1:47
  Such a good question.
• 1:48
  And I think that's very relevant.
• 1:50
  I've talked to a lot of companies here that of course, you know, larger organizations, they have talent acquisition teams, they have their in house recruiters and so there's this idea that that team is going to fill every job
• 2:02
  in an organization and I wish them well and I hope they can.
• 2:06
  Especially with AI.
• 2:07
  It's like, oh, we get so many resumes, we wouldn't need to use a recruiter but just this understanding of are headhunters.
• 2:13
  And what we're doing is we're really strategically listening to our clients needs.
• 2:17
  We're not just posting a job and praying and sending over a bunch of resumes.
• 2:21
  We are going out and truly hand picking people based on skills, based on service offering, based on that culture match and we are soliciting them, evaluating them for specific needs where we add a lot of value.
• 2:35
  Is that niche or you know, that niche role that we can dive into our network, we can reconnect with candidates that have been part of our network and community for so many years and really bring in experience that
• 2:50
  maybe wouldn't come in from an inbound resume.
• 2:52
  So AI is changing the game, but I don't.
• 2:56
  It is.
• 2:57
  We're not there yet and I don't think we'll ever be there.
• 2:59
  That you don't need a human involved in the talent acquisition process.
• 3:03
  And that's exactly what we do.
• 3:04
  It's human to human looking beyond titles and using judgment, using creativity, curiosity to really help a client find the right person.
• 3:15
  So lots of assumptions that it's just going to be easier and I think it might be getting a little harder because it's so saturated and you know, AI is creating like mass applications and companies are getting so many
• 3:28
  resumes for posting but not, you know, that.
• 3:31
  So that's really where you need that human judgment.
• 3:34
  Yeah.
• 3:34
  And so I'm going to personally vouch for you right here because I bumped into a service provider that we use and I didn't even.
• 3:41
  We didn't expect to see each other here.
• 3:42
  And they were saying hey, you know your team and we're a young company for those that don't know we're only three years old.
• 3:47
  And he was like man, your team is like so on top of it.
• 3:50
  And I'm so impressed by you guys.
• 3:52
  He's like, how do you find these people?
• 3:54
  And I said well we actually use a recruiter.
• 3:57
  And so you found us a couple rockstar candidates very quickly when we were in need and again.
• 4:03
  Right.
• 4:03
  We've been through the whole posting on Indeed.
• 4:05
  And trying to find the right person yourself.
• 4:07
  It's not worked.
• 4:08
  Felt the pain.
• 4:09
  Felt the pain.
• 4:10
  So just for people that think that, you know, like you said, it's that they can do it themselves or they can just handle it in house and they kind of discount the value that a recruiter has with relationships.
• 4:22
  Exactly.
• 4:23
  I mean you see the.
• 4:25
  Yeah, I would just say it's that important.
• 4:27
  Exactly, exactly.
• 4:28
  And I think something else that's maybe misunderstood and I started my career recruiting as an in house recruiter and knowing that I was representing one company and every candidate that I communicated with, like I had maybe multiple opportunities
• 4:43
  for them.
• 4:44
  But in one organization as a third party recruiter, we have a portfolio of opportunities.
• 4:49
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• 4:54
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• 4:57
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• 5:05
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• 5:13
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• 5:21
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• 5:27
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• 5:38
  I think there's a lot of, I don't know if you've heard the term job hugging lately.
• 5:42
  That's what we're still seeing where it's employed candidates that, that are miserable, for lack of another word.
• 5:49
  They want to make a move, but they're scared to put themselves out there because they recognize they have stability, they have benefits, they have a salary.
• 5:58
  And they're very hesitant to talk to an organization directly because if I send my resume in, who's going to say that, that, you know, person receiving it doesn't know my boss and they're not going to rat me out
• 6:09
  or I'm not going to be font talking to them.
• 6:12
  So I think that's where, you know, recruiters.
• 6:14
  I'm not trying to make this all about our services, but you asked.
• 6:18
  That is where we can really add that level of confidentiality and it's more of that neutral place where we want to know, what do you do?
• 6:26
  What do you want to do?
• 6:28
  We're not just going to push you into the one role we have open.
• 6:30
  We're really going to help you identify what's in the market and matchmake you.
• 6:34
  And that's, you know, that's where I use the word headhunted.
• 6:37
  We're going out and hunting heads for a specific role that will be a badge.
• 6:42
  Okay, love that.
• 6:43
  All right.
• 6:43
  And then we also, you mentioned AI and I'm actually, I did a post about this and I have another one from a separate experience coming out.
• 6:51
  But it's all about like I dealt with a, a company that slash jobs and implemented AI and it failed miserably.
• 6:59
  And I was so frustrated and I just spent the extra money to just be done with this situation.
• 7:05
  Yeah, right.
• 7:06
  And so talk about like, particularly from like the larger company perspective where people just think AI is the answer and it's so easy to plug and play and you can do splash jobs and everything will work.
• 7:17
  And that's not the case.
• 7:19
  No, it's not the case.
• 7:20
  I mean, you still need human judgments, you still need human prompts.
• 7:25
  But I think there is a lot of hype and you know, at this event, I mean, it's incredible credit.
• 7:30
  So many vendors are here and you know, partners for shippers, for 3 PLs, for asset providers, but it's overwhelming and trying to sift through the noise and figure out like, what does our tech stack look like?
• 7:41
  And there's so many new solutions out there and I don't think a lot of people understand what's available and you know, people know what their pain points are.
• 7:51
  But again, it's kind of that like not one size fits all.
• 7:55
  So I think when it comes to AI, the theme that I'm hearing a lot is it is not to replace humans, it is to make humans more efficient and to free up human time to be more human.
• 8:06
  I just use the word human a lot, but you get it.
• 8:09
  It's like I want you to be able to do more, avoid some of these repetitive tasks, the administrative tasks, so you can be on the phone with your customers, so you can be building relationships, solving problems instead of
• 8:21
  being bogged down checking boxes in your system, uploading files.
• 8:25
  I think there's a very, very clear need for it and so many opportunities where we can create efficiencies.
• 8:30
  But it's not to just eliminate humans, to support humans and supplement the work we do and kind of layer on and make us better, faster, stronger than we could be without it.
• 8:42
  Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
• 8:44
  And so my, you know, we're wrapping up here at manifest day three.
• 8:47
  So I found probably the biggest value is just literally the people I've met and the conversations we've had that you really can't have anywhere else, like dinner, seeing people at the booth and just getting into deeper conversations.
• 8:59
  So I mean, what, you've been here same thing past three days.
• 9:02
  What, what's your biggest takeaway from this year?
• 9:05
  I think exactly that it's like, you know, one, I love how there are a lot of competitors here, but it's friendly.
• 9:12
  They come to together, they're sharing what's worked for them, what hasn't worked.
• 9:16
  And just it truly is like a community, but it's one place where everyone can shake hands.
• 9:21
  And I think, you know, how I've spent my time connecting with a lot of people that I've talked to over the phone for so many years, looking them in the eye, shaking their hand, having just an in person
• 9:31
  conversation and then yeah, if we move back to zoom calls or phone calls at this point, like just building that rapport that level of trust, being able to do it over three days at a very, very high volume
• 9:44
  is.
• 9:44
  It's a gift.
• 9:45
  It's exhausting.
• 9:46
  But it's like we come in, we hustle, and then we know, you know, who's in our network, and we've had a chance to interact with them.
• 9:53
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 9:54
  Okay.
• 9:55
  So, Charlie, people are seeing this.
• 9:56
  They want to learn more about your company and what you do, how they can.
• 9:59
  How can they get in touch.
• 10:00
  Yeah, LinkedIn is probably the easiest way to find us.
• 10:02
  So whether you are hiring and looking for talent, or if you're a job seeker, passive or active, looking for an opportunity, reach out to me on LinkedIn or follow our company, CS Recruiting, reach out to our team.
• 10:15
  We'd love to connect with you.
• 10:17
  Okay, thanks so much, Charlie.
• 10:18
  Thanks, Dave.